The goal of the continuous improvement process in North Dakota K-12 education is to review and adjust practice to best support student learning. This study considered the continuous improvement services and supports provided by North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI), such as providing training and support through regional education cooperatives, adopting the North Dakota multi-tier system of supports (NDMTSS), identifying criteria for low-performing schools under the targeted or comprehensive support and improvement (TSI or CSI) initiative, as well as partnering with Cognia for program improvement tools and school accreditation reviews. The sample population of this study was limited to member schools of one regional education cooperative, Red River Valley Education Cooperative (RRVEC), and refined further to those RRVEC member schools identified for TSI or CSI, as those schools were a selection of those that performed in the bottom 10% and 5% of schools in the state. As all students in a school receive Tier 1 instruction according to the MTSS tenants, this study identified five essential MTSS Tier 1 components for teachers to assess using Cognia's (n.d.) i3 rubric to determine if those components were evident in identified schools and to what extent. Teacher responses were used to inform a causal system analysis and working theory of improvement, the synthesis of which led to the design of a strategy map as an implementation of a solution which may be used to guide district leaderships' improvement-driven decision-making. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]