The State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) is an important tool for states to assess local education agency (LEA) implementation of IDEA. However, reviewing LEA performance on the SPP/APR indicators must not be the only tool. This Fast Five introduces five factors (plus one!) other than the SPP/APR indicators that states should…

This briefing paper explores Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) policies and practices that state early intervention (Part C) programs may consider implementing to meet the social-emotional and mental health needs of infants and toddlers in the context of relationships with their parents and other caregivers.

There is substantial empirical evidence that the Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) process is an effective means to reduce student problem behavior and increase desirable behaviors (e.g., What Works Clearinghouse, 2016). The use of an FBA as the basis for a behavior intervention plan (BIP) has been a requirement for certain disciplinary…

In this technical report, implementation strategies from the first two years of Project ICEBERG exploration are described. Over this period of time, a new preschool assessment, curricular activity, and teacher training tool called the Learning Receptiveness Assessment-Greenhouse application, was iteratively developed, refined, and piloted to…

Universal screening is increasingly becoming part of prevention and early intervention best practice in schools. Although the number of schools engaging in universal screening has increased over the past decade, emotional and behavioral problems are often their primary focus. Problem-focused screening, however, does not address positive…

Students do not leave their mental health at the front door when they come to school. From wellness to serious illness, a student's mental health status is integral to how they think, feel, interact, behave, and learn. Decades of research and experience have laid a solid foundation and framework for effectively providing mental health…

Even though evidence-based Tier 2 programs are now more commonly available, integrating and sustaining these interventions in schools remain challenging. RE-AIM, which stands for Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance, is a public health framework used to maximize the effectiveness of health promotion programs in…

In November 2017, the National Center for Special Education Research in the Institute of Education Sciences convened a group of experts to discuss and provide input on research needs for improving outcomes of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The discussion focused on four major topics of inquiry: (1) What do we know about…

The change in allowing school districts to use the more prevalent discrepancy model or the new addition of response to intervention to determine whether a disability is present has sparked discussion among educators. As districts decide which method to use, it is important to base decisions on factual and researched information. The authors hope…

School-site and district-level leadership teams rely on the existing knowledge base to select, implement, and evaluate evidence-based practices meeting students' multiple needs within the context of multitiered systems of support. The authors focus on the stages of implementation science as applied to Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports; the…

Recent years have brought many changes to the ways in which schools in the United States address learning disabilities in their students. In an attempt to provide all students with appropriate reading instruction and to identify struggling students in a more timely manner, the 2004 revision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…

Schools are increasingly adopting tiered models of prevention to meet the needs of diverse populations of students. This article outlines the steps involved in designing and implementing a systematic Tier 2 behavior intervention within a tiered service delivery model. An elementary school example is provided to outline the identification,…

The Response to Intervention (RTI) Essential Components Integrity Rubric and the RTI Essential Components Integrity Worksheet are for use by individuals responsible for monitoring the school-level fidelity of Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation. They may also be used by schools for self-appraisal; however, they were not designed for…

Response to Intervention (RtI) has gained increased attention with the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. Since RtI was introduced at the policy level as a mechanism for use in the learning disability identification process, much of the implementation work has focused on this application. School-based…

The Ministry of Education's special education policy (commonly referred to as SE2000) has been progressively implemented since 1996. Although it is a funding rather than a professional-practice policy, it has had some negative and unintended consequences for the practice of educational psychology, for special education and it is suggested, for…