This qualitative case study examined school-based administrators' perceptions of the impacts of the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) at the elementary level. Administrators play a vital role in enhancing student learning within education, which is crucial for driving academic achievement in the school environment. The study focused on the…

Difficulties in writing can emerge as early as preschool, and often coincide with developing difficulties in reading (Berninger et al., 1997; Graham & Santangelo, 2014; Graham et al., 2020), as reading and writing are fundamentally connected skills (e.g., Fitzgerald & Shanahan, 2000). Writing instruction in general has had positive effects…

Elementary school teachers struggle to collect and use reading progress data to make instructional decisions. Collecting and interpreting reading progress data when making instructional decisions allows districts to identify and support students who need early reading intervention and may protect districts from Free Appropriate Public Education…

According to Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), schools must adopt an academic and behavior intervention program in order to meet the different academic and behavioral needs of K-12 students. Educational leaders may choose to integrate Computer Based Decision Support Systems (CDSSs) into the intervention program to assist with progress…

Using data to inform instructional decisions is a pillar of special education practice. Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is a systematic, ongoing assessment framework that allows special educators to monitor the progress of their students to determine the need for instructional adaptations. CBM and data-based instructional decision-making have a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Title I school performance and effective district leadership and reform strategies. This study focused on the successful attributes and characteristics of principals whose high-performing (the percentage of students that meet or exceed on the AzMERIT assessment) high-poverty schools…

The ubiquity of data in various forms has fueled the need for advanced data-mining techniques within organizations. The advent of data mining methods used to uncover hidden nuggets of information buried within large data sets has also fueled the need for determining how these unique projects can be successful. There are many challenges associated…

This quantitative study investigated current data-based instructional decision-making (DBIDM) practices of K-3 general education teachers implementing a MTSS/RTI model to address students' academic needs. A thirty-item electronic survey was designed to examine and measure aspects of K-3 general education teachers' formative data use and…

"For valid disability determination to occur, a diagnostic team needs to be able to determine that a student has received appropriate instruction in the general education classroom" (Johnson, Mellard, Fuchs, & McKnight, 2006, p. 4.2). The purpose of the study was to determine whether a middle school Response to Intervention (RTI)…

The "Response to Intervention Guidance for New York State School Districts" (2010) document indicates Response to Intervention (RTI) is a mandated general education process intended to provide early interventions to struggling at-risk students. The multi-level RTI framework is structured to include targeted evidence-based interventions…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is defined by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) as the practice of providing high-quality instruction and intervention matched to student needs and using learning rate over time and level of performance to make important educational decisions (2007). Both IDEA 2004 and the…

The following document represents a Problem Based Learning Project (PBL) around the central theme of school improvement, the components of school improvement, and the importance of the presence and interaction of five central components of school improvement. Five central components, or constructs, identified and selected from a breadth of…

The purpose of this study is to exam in-depth, the Comprehensive, Powerful, Academic Database (CPAD), a data decision-making tool that determines and identifies students at-risk of dropping out of school, and how the CPAD assists administrators and teachers at an elementary campus to monitor progress, curriculum, and performance to improve student…

The following document represents a Problem Based Learning Project (PBL) around the central theme of school improvement, the components of school improvement, and the importance of the presence and interaction of five central components of school improvement. Five central components, or constructs, identified and selected from a breadth of…

Early literacy and reading skills are both important predictors of an individual's future success in school and employment settings (Moats, 1999). Moreover, poor reading performance in elementary school has been associated with future conduct problems and juvenile delinquency by age fifteen (Williams, 1994). Research supports the notion that…