In collaboration with an urban public school, teacher candidates at a nearby university created a social-emotional skills project called Knight Brigade. The author discusses the project planning, implementation, and results as part of this ongoing partnership.

Middle school is a cornerstone for success in high school. However, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement of adolescents often decline as they transition from elementary to middle school, resulting in lower school grades and more challenging behaviors, especially for adolescents with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders…

Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) is an effective and widely used Tier 2 behavior program in elementary and middle schools. This article describes a pilot study focused on examining the impact and usability of an adapted CICO program in a high school. We used a single-case multiple baseline design across five 9th grade students to evaluate the effects of…

Schools in Florida used the multitiered system of support response to intervention framework to help students achieve the state and national standards but, in the national report card, 61% of the fourth-graders assessed in mathematics failed to achieve proficiency. Research indicated that the students lacked mathematical word problem-solving…

In this article, we follow up on recommendations from the Division for Emotional and Behavioral Health (DEBH) for providing school mental health (SMH) services by offering additional implementation suggestions for teachers and school staff. We highlight the need for and urgency of SMH services, particularly during and after the pandemic, and also…

Successful implementation of intervention strategies for students having difficulties with reading is highly dependent on teachers' knowledge. Curricula alone do not teach; skilled teachers know how to prioritize learning objectives. For students who are struggling, or who have reading disabilities, including dyslexia, it is vital that teachers…

This study leveraged data from a 40-school randomized controlled trial to understand the cost of coaching to support implementation of evidence-based programs (EBPs) through a multi-tiered system of supports for behavior (MTSS-B) model. Coach activity log data were utilized to generate the annual average, per school, costs of coaching of $8,198.…

The purpose of the study included a comparison of academic achievement scores for reading and mathematics to the implementation of positive behavior intervention supports (PBIS) among fifth-graders attending three different types of schools in Georgia. This descriptive comparative study included the collection of academic achievement scores from…

Check-in/Check-out (CICO) is one of the most commonly utilized and wellestablished Tier 2 interventions (Horner, Sugai, & Lewis, 2015). Evaluation of CICO components is necessary to inform implementation of adequate prevention and intervention services, as well as evidence-based modifications of intervention intensity for students at risk of…

The use of schoolwide multitiered systems of support to address challenging social and emotional behavior has been established in >20,000 schools across the United States and 19 other countries worldwide. The systems approach of schoolwide positive behavior support is guided by implementation science and embeds evidence-based behavioral…

A full canon of empirical literature shows that students who are African American, Latinx, or American Indian/Alaskan Native, and students who are male, diagnosed with disabilities, or from low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to experience exclusionary discipline practices in U.S. schools. Though there is a growing commitment to…

Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) frameworks are designed to directly support students with, and at risk for, disabilities by providing timely, aligned, and coordinated supports, with the goal of preventing or ameliorating the effects of early risk. Yet developing and implementing MTSS in beginning reading is a complex process. Many schools…

Now in a fully revised and updated second edition, this authoritative resource provides a complete toolkit for designing and implementing an evidence-based school safety plan. Foremost experts guide practitioners to understand and prevent violence, bullying, and peer harassment in grades K-12. Best practices are reviewed for creating a positive…

Students with and at-risk for academic and behavioral challenges often have low levels of academic engagement. Providing instructional choice is one way to increase engagement in the classroom. In this study, we replicated and extended previous inquiry by investigating the effects of across-activity choices offered by third-grade teachers during…

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview, core strategies, and real-life examples of the universal tier of an early childhood multitiered system of positive behavior support: "The Pyramid Model." This article includes information from a variety of resources and classroom experiences to assist practitioners in the…