ABSTRACT
Educational reform initiatives have consistently been charged with setting expectations for schools to provide the best education available and to serve the needs of students. Federal mandates have explicitly indicated the need for school-based models to focus on prevention, early warning systems, progress monitoring and data to assess student progress (President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education, 2002). As a result of these mandates, school-based models for problem solving have emerged to address the academic and behavioral needs of students in schools. For example, models such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Response to Intervention (RtI) have been implemented in schools and delivered as separate and unintegrated systems approaches to addressing student behavior and learning needs. Research has shown that both models are effective for supporting students (National Association of School Psychologists [NASP], 2009) and some researchers have even noted that the models complement one another since they focus on prevention, problem-solving using data, research-based interventions, and assessment of fidelity of implementation (Eagle et al., 2015). Recognition of the relationship between these models has led to increased attention on the need for a single, integrated model that structures how we offer student support for academic, socio-emotional, and behavioral needs (Harn et al., 2015; McIntosh et al., 2010). The common denominator between PBIS and RtI is to offer tiered supports that are implemented based on data about student needs. This construct is currently referred to as Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).
