Family Engagement and Tiered Approaches for Middle and Secondary Students

Tiered instruction and social/emotional supports (such as Response to Intervention or Positive Behavior Intervention Supports) are not only for elementary students. Middle and high school educators are now implementing these strategies to close the skills achievement gap and support students in various classes. One crucial component often neglected in professional literature involves ways to collaborate with families, especially when their student is receiving specialized tiered instruction. Due to the importance of engaging and empowering families, this article describes ways middle and high school personnel can strengthen the family–school collaboration when a student is receiving support in tiered systems.     

Pilot study for the fidelity,acceptability, and effectiveness of a PBIS program plus mental health supports in under‐resourced urban schools

This paper describes implementation (fidelity, perceived acceptability) and tier 1 and Tier 2 outcomes of school‐wide positive behavior interventions and supports approach including mental health supports at Tier 2 in two K‐8 urban schools. Interventions for Tier 2 consisted of three manualized group cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) protocols for externalizing behavior problems, depression, and anxiety. Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions were implemented with fidelity but program feasibility for Tier 2 was in question because school personnel needed a great deal of external support to implement the interventions. Tier 1 interventions were associated with a decrease in office discipline referrals. Students participating in GCBT showed a significant decrease in mental health diagnostic severity at posttreatment. A discussion of perceived and actual implementation barriers and how they were addressed is provided. Implications for practice in low‐income urban schools are discussed.     

Assessing school climate within a PBIS framework: using multi-informant assessment to identify strengths and needs

A multi-method, multi-informant method was used to collect data from diverse stakeholders about school climate to inform school improvement efforts as part of the Positive Behaviour Intervention Supports (PBIS) framework. Teachers, administrators, school staff and students completed surveys and parents participated in focus groups to gather perspectives about school climate. Respondents identified safety as a strength at the school, staff and student results suggested interpersonal relationships as an area for improvement and staff identified parent involvement as an area for growth. Both positive and negative perceptions of school climate emerged from the parent focus group. While there are limitations to the generalisability of the results, this case study provides a useful approach for schools to assess their school climate and establish goals for improvement.