Beyond One Size Fits All: Evidence From a Randomized Trial of Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)

• In Event: 16.032 - Plugging the Leaky Pipeline: Evaluating Programs That Encourage Minorities in STEM-Related Fields

Abstract

We report preliminary results from a randomized controlled trial of multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) in the Wake County Public School System. MTSS is an umbrella framework that formalizes response to intervention (RtI) and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in order to provide students with three tiers of service delivery. MTSS was randomly assigned to the district’s second cohort of 44 schools in fall 2015. Preliminary results suggest that MTSS had limited impacts on aggregate academic outcomes, though male students experienced small gains in middle school math and Algebra I, while Black students experienced small gains in middle school reading. Behavioral incidents appear to have ticked upward, perhaps owing to growing pains associated with the first year of implementation.

Authors

• Dina Bulgakov Cooke, Wake County Public Schools

• Matthew A Lenard, Wake County Public School System