Special issue: research perspectives on multi-tiered system of support

Evidence-based programs and interventions targeting special education programs fall within a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) which consists of increased instructional time, interventions, and improved educational outcomes for students in general and special education. The NASP Position Statement, "Appropriate Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Supports to Meet the Needs of All Students" (NASP, 2009) recommends the MTSS comprehensive framework to address the academic and social, emotional, and behavioral development of children and youth. The MTTS framework consists of principles of response to intervention (RtI) and positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and integrates a continuum of system-wide resources, strategies, structures, and evidence-based practices for addressing barriers to student learning and discipline. Successful implementation of MTSS requires schools to implement a continuum of systematic, coordinated, evidence- based practices targeted to being responsive to the varying intensity of needs students have related to their academic and social emotional/behavioral development (Harn, Chard, Biancarosa, & Kame`enui, 2011; Horner, Sugai, & Anderson, 2010). The first article by Harn, Basaraba, Chard, and Fritz presents information and data on a longitudinal study designed to accelerate first graders at-risk for reading difficulties until the end of third grade. The second article by Weisenburgh-Snyder, Malmquist, Robbins, and Lipshin is a case study detailing the rapid progress of a class of students during using Precision Teaching (PT), a frequency building instructional intervention, which consists of a multi-level assessment system, combined with evidence-based practices of teaching and learning within a RtI framework. Within a PBIS conceptual framework, the third article by Utley and Obiakor examined a targeted intervention, the Cool Tool, at the secondary prevention level to address problem behaviors of elementary students in an urban school. Todd, Campbell, Meyer, & Horner (2008) noted that targeted interventions are designed to "provide efficient behavior support for students at risk of more intense problem behavior" (pp. 46-47). The fourth article by Freeman, Miller, and Newcomer incorporated both RtI and School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) in the MTSS and describes the integration of several tiered implementation models into one coherent, combined system designed to address literacy and social competence (Lan