ABSTRACT
Horizontal adaptations represent efforts to align an intervention with a student’s unique needs and characteristics, as well as the characteristics of the environment within which the intervention is to be delivered. Contextual factors refer to the things in a student’s environment that can impact intervention implementation, such as resource availability, personnel, physical space, time, and technology. Research has revealed positive effects when peer mentors take on the goal setting and evaluation process while adults serve in a supervisory role. Vertical adaptations can move in two directions. Interventions can be made less intense when a student is exhibiting less problematic behavior, suggesting potential readiness for a return to Tier 1 support. Interventions can also be made more intense, such as when it is thought a standard Tier 2 intervention will be insufficient, but a comprehensive Tier 3 behavior support plan will be unnecessarily complex and intense.
