An Impact Evaluation of Training in Multi-Tiered Systems of mSupport for Behavior (MTSS-B)

MTSS-B SITE VISIT INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS

Appendix B: Student Support Team Leader Interview (Year 3)

Team Leader Name ______________________________ Role ________________

Introduction (Introduction will be repeated each wave)

Good morning/good afternoon. My name is [name] and I work with the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior (MTSS-B) study team.

We are conducting interviews with school administrators and team leaders to learn their thoughts about behavior support practices at their school. We anticipate the interview will take no more than 30-45 minutes. Your participation in the interview is completely voluntary. We hope you will participate because your perspective is essential to understanding how to improve behavior support practices in schools across the country.

All the information we collect is confidential, and you, your school, or anyone working at or attending your school will not be identified by name. I have a document here describing the study and this interview for your reference.

Do you have any questions before we begin?

National Study of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior (MTSS-B)

Site Visit Interview

What is the purpose of the study?

This study is evaluating Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior (MTSS-B), an approach to teaching and reinforcing appropriate behavior for all students and providing additional supports for students with greater needs. Some schools in the study have been randomly selected to receive training and support in MTSS-B and other schools in the study were randomly selected to continue with their existing behavior support practices. Data is being collected to understand how this program works across schools and districts; it will not be used to evaluate individual schools, teachers, or staff members.

The U.S. Department of Education has picked MDRC, a research group, to carry out the study. MDRC is working with partner organizations to collect data for this research study—American Institutes for Research (AIR), Decision Information Resources (DIR) and Harvard Graduate School of Education. These four organizations make up the MTSS-B study team.

What am I being asked to do?

You are invited to complete an interview about behavior support practices. It will take approximately 30-45 minutes.

What are the benefits from taking part in this interview?

We hope that you will feel satisfied knowing that you are helping to improve teaching and learning in your school and throughout the country.

What are the possible risks of this interview?

There are no anticipated risks of participating in this interview. Your responses and personal information will be stored securely and will not be released to any person outside of the research team. Information collected will not be used to evaluate you or other individuals in your school.

Who will know about my participation in this interview?

Information collected for this study comes under the confidentiality and data protection requirements of the Institute of Education Sciences. All information from this study will be kept confidential as required by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (Title I, Part E, Section

183). Responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes. Personally identifiable information about individual respondents will not be reported. We will not provide information that identifies you, your school, or your district to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law.

Is my participation in this interview voluntary?

Your participation in the interview is completely voluntary and your decision will not affect your current or future status in your school. We hope you will participate because your

views and experiences are very important to us. If you begin the interview and change your mind, you can withdraw at any time.

If I have additional questions, how can I get them answered?

If you want more information about this study, please contact Pamela Wells at Decision Information Resources (DIR), at pwells@dir-online.com or by calling, 832-485-3720. The MTSS-B Project Director, Fred Doolittle, can be reached at fred.doolittle@mdrc.org or by calling 212-340-8638.

1. How often does your (name of team from item 28b of administrator interview)_ team meet? (once a week, twice per month, monthly, once a semester, etc.)

2. Are (written) procedures in place for referring students to the _____________ team? (Collect SST referral form at this time.)

1. Please describe process.

3. Is there a documented (written) process for determining if a student (not with an IEP) needs access to Targeted or Intensive interventions?

4. What is the amount of time that it typically takes the SST (or someone on the SST) to respond to a teacher regarding a request for assistance? (Record in days)

5. Are all staff members who are directly involved notified about students receiving targeted or intensive support services? Do they receive ongoing updates about student progress?

6. Is there a form or document that is used to monitor individual student progress on a monthly basis? (Please note what material you have seen; e.g., progress report form, intervention form contains place for data monitoring)

7. Is there a documented (written) process for selecting evidence-based interventions for individual students (i.e., targeted interventions)? (Please note what material you have seen or is referenced; e.g., flowchart, table, computerized system)

Now I need to collect some information about interventions that you may implement at your school. I am looking for interventions in the following areas (different interventions for each area):

1. Classroom Management Strategies – any intervention/program that teachers in the school can access and use in their classrooms to promote classroom management skills. Please not the name of the program in the table below (e.g., CHAMPS, Good Behavior Game, Caught Being Good Game).

2. Other Social-emotional learning program (school-wide intervention; e.g. Character Counts, Second Step, PATHS, Steps to Respect, Skillstreaming) – any intervention/program that ALL the students in the school can access, as developmentally appropriate. It may be social skills lessons, like Second Step.

8. Do you use any school-wide interventions at this school for each area?

List names of interventions in the table

Critical Features for School-Wide Interventions	Classroom Management Strategy _________________ (specify program) 0 = No 2 = Yes	Social-emotional Learning _______________ (specify program) 0 = No 2 = Yes	Total Points
Intervention is linked directly to school-wide expectations and/or academic goals.	0 2	0 2
Intervention is implemented continuously throughout the school year.	0 2	0 2
Intervention is implemented during class time or homeroom.	0 2	0 2
Uses data to monitor impact of intervention. (0=no/verbal, 2= written documentation)	0 2	0 2
Intervention results in students receiving positive feedback from staff.	0 2	0 2
Intervention results in students receiving direct instruction in the skill development.	0 2	0 2
Intervention has a process for monitoring whether it is being implemented as designed.	0 2	0 2
All staff implementing the intervention have received initial training in the intervention.	0 2	0 2
Trained staff receive ongoing coaching on how to implement the intervention.	0 2	0 2
Written instructions exist for how to implement intervention. (0=no/verbal, 2= written documentation)	0 2	0 2

Finally, I need to collect some information about the interventions used at your school.

9. Do you use any interventions at this school for each area?

• Student engagement and truancy (e.g. Check In/Check out, Check & Connect, Behavior Education Program) - any student engagement or truancy intervention/program that is only available to a subset of student population who have an identified need. Check in/Check out and Check & Connect are examples.

• Academic Intervention - any academically focused intervention that is only available to a subset of the student population who have an identified need (e.g., Early Reading Intervention, Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS), Reading Mastery, Breakthrough to Literacy).

Critical Features for Targeted and Intensive Individualized Interventions	Check In / Check Out or other engagement program _______________ (specify program) 0 = No 2 = Yes	Academic Intervention _____________ (specify program) 0 = No 2 = Yes	Total Points
Intervention is linked directly to school-wide expectations and/or academic goals.	0 2	0 2
Once the intervention is in place, intervention is continuously available for student participation.	0 2	0 2
Intervention is implemented within 3 school days of determination that the student should receive the intervention.	0 2	0 2
Uses data to monitor impact of intervention. (0=no/verbal, 2=written documentation)	0 2	0 2
Intervention results in student receiving positive feedback from staff.	0 2	0 2
Intervention requires no more than 10 min. per day from any instructional/supervisory staff to monitor (other than people who coordinate, implement, or manage the program).	0 2	0 2
Intervention has a process for monitoring whether it is being implemented as designed.	0 2	0 2
All staff implementing the intervention have received initial training in the intervention.	0 2	0 2
Trained staff receive ongoing coaching on how to implement the intervention.	0 2	0 2
Written instructions exist for how to implement intervention. (0=no/verbal, 2=see written documentation)	0 2	0 2
Written description of intervention is provided to student’s classroom teacher or parent. (0=no/verbal, 2= written documentation)	0 2	0 2

10. How are students identified for the{CICO/Engagement} intervention? {Check all that apply}

• Review of academic data

• Review of behavior data

• Staff referral

• Parent referral

• Other_________________________

10. When a team meets to complete a functional behavioral assessment (FBA), does the team include:

1. an administrator?

2. one of the student’s teachers?

3. an individual with knowledge about FBAs?

4. use of a written protocol to guide the process? (Please collect the FBA form at this time.)

10. Is there documented evidence that the FBA team has received staff development in Tier 3 procedures this school year? (Please note what material you have seen.)

10. Would you describe your school as implementing MTSS-B this school- year?

    • Yes {Check all that apply)

      1. Tier I (Schoolwide)

      2. Tier II (Targeted)

      3. Tier III (Intensive or Individualized)

    • No

If YES Ask 14a and 14b

If NO End Interview

14a. I have some cards here describing factors that may help to facilitate implementation of MTSS-B. Out of this pile, can you select the three cards that you think have been most important to facilitating your school’s implementation of MTSSB this school-year? }

Top choice: _______________

Second choice: _____________

Third Choice: _______________

Notes: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14b. I have some cards here describing factors that could present barriers to a school in their mplementation of MTSS-B. Out of this pile, can you select the three cards that you think have posed the greatest barriers to your school’s implementation of MTSSB this school-year? }

Top choice: _______________

Second choice: _____________

Third Choice: _______________

Notes: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MTSS-B Site Visit Interview Protocol-Please do not circulate