The articles in the current special issue advance the literature on Tier 2 in the crucial area of discussing adaptations to existing Tier 2 interventions to enhance positive student outcomes. Adaptation is common practice in school settings. Thus, setting up recommendations, or embedding guiding principles for how to successfully adapt Tier 2…

For schools implementing Response-to-Intervention, it is important to understand how to efficiently intensify interventions. Treatment intensity, or intervention design, is a critical yet overlooked and understudied aspect in math. More frequent dosage results in greater student gains. However, questions remain regarding how teaching episodes…

Extant coverage of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) in the research literature has tended to focus on student outcomes as opposed to the process of adult implementation. This conceptual article presents a model of process evaluation as a means to assess the fidelity of implementation of a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework to…

Students with or at-risk of High Incidence Disabilities (HID) experience negative short and long-term outcomes. To intervene, many schools have elected to implement evidence-based practices within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), such as Response to Intervention (RTI). MTSS target the academic and behavioral progress of students deemed 'at…

The purpose of this study was to examine: (1) the effect of a reading intervention based on reading need compared to a mismatched behavior intervention; and (2) the effect of an academic behavior intervention based on behavior need in comparison to a mismatched reading intervention. Six students took part in the multiple baseline study. Half of…

Within a three-tiered intervention framework, such as School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, Tier 2 interventions were initially conceived as employing a standard protocol across all at-risk students. Research and practice, however, suggests advantages to adapting interventions so they are tailored to individual student needs.…

The extant literature suggests that a shared set of deficits (e.g., emotion dysregulation) underlies both internalizing and externalizing emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) among youth. As such, many Tier 2 interventions contain a similar set of core components, which in turn are associated with global symptom reductions. This conceptual…

Response to intervention (RtI) models have increasingly been adopted to improve outcomes for all students through the delivery of a continuum of supports and making timely responsive instructional decisions based on data. With this increasing popularity, researchers and practitioners have developed several RtI-related assessments, many of which…

Tier 2 social behavioral interventions are designed to support up to 15% of the school population; as such, they must be efficient and effective. The purpose of this article is to propose an adaptive, responsive approach to the implementation of social behavioral Tier 2 interventions, considering both core components and malleable features to…

Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports (PBIS) is a preventative and responsive three-tiered framework comprised of a continuum of evidence-based practices and interventions. Adaptation, or tailoring is a critical component to the PBIS system, as it is not intended to be a standard treatment protocol, particularly at the Tier 2 level. Tier 2…

Objectives: This study examined the effectiveness of Sound Partners, an evidence-based early literacy intervention program, with culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students within an applied Response to Intervention (RTI) system. Method: Participants (n = 11) with a range of English language proficiency (ELP) who spoke English,…

Response to intervention (RTI) is an evidence-based approach to educational service delivery that is being increasingly adopted by schools across the country. To effectively implement RTI models, teachers require specialized training. Little is currently known, however, about the extent to which this training is being provided at the preservice…

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has applied a trauma-informed (TI) lens to a multi-tiered systems of support framework, referred to as TI-MTSS. The NCTSN presents 10 Core Area guidelines to guide school personnel toward the implementation of TI-MTSS. The purpose of this paper is to connect the training and expertise of school…

The literature on RTI has indicated that professional development and coaching are critical to facilitating problem-solving implementation with fidelity. This study examined the extent to which systems coaching related to the fidelity of problem-solving implementation in 31 schools from six districts. Schools participated in three years of a…

Data from a large-scale math intervention program were used to evaluate the degree to which implementation fidelity (IF) and interventionist content knowledge were associated with student outcomes. Data were available for 33 interventionists serving 658 students in Grades 4-6 across one school year. A series of multilevel models were fit to the…