Muscogee County School District
Prevention & Intervention Practices
General Information
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), referred to in Georgia as Georgia’s Tiered System of Supports for Students, is a tiered framework that integrates evidence-based assessment and intervention within a school-wide, multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and reduce behavioral problems. It promotes systems alignment to increase efficiency and effectiveness of resources. MTSS provides an effective framework for district and school improvement, reforming curricula to better meet student learning needs, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and by advancing the work of Georgia’s Systems of Continuous Improvement.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, data-driven framework proven to reduce disciplinary incidents, increase a school’s sense of safety, improve school climate, and support improved academic outcomes for all students. It is Implementation framework for maximizing the selection and use of evidence-based prevention and intervention practices along a multi-tiered continuum that supports the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral competence of all students.
Both MTSS and PBIS are grounded in differentiated instruction. The critical factors established at the universal (or primary) level of prevention (Tier 1) include proactive core instructional practices designed to meet the needs of all students (approximately 80%). At the targeted (or secondary) level of prevention (Tier 2), evidence-based interventions that are highly efficient and effective are implemented with some (approximately 15%) students in a small group. At the intensive (or tertiary) level of prevention (Tier 3), intense and durable procedures for evidence-based interventions are implemented with a few (approximately 5%) students individually or in a very small group. The shared characteristics of these approaches to meet the needs of the “whole child” by addressing both academic and behavioral strengths and areas for further development is illustrated below.
The essentials components of MTSS, or Georgia’s Tiered System of Supports for Students, are:
• Screening – brief measures administered up to 3 times a year that are valid, reliable and evidence-based and provided to all students at a grade level; helps identify students in need of enrichment/acceleration or students at-risk of poor learning outcomes and/or challenging behaviors; MCSD uses the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) to identify behavioral and social-emotional needs and Star Early Literacy, Star Reading and Star Math to identify academic needs.
• Progress Monitoring – valid, reliable and evidence-based tools used to monitor students’ response to universal instruction, or targeted or intensive intervention, to estimate rates of improvement and determine whether adjustments are needed to boost student progress; occurs at regular intervals based on the intensity of the tiered support provided.
• Multi-Level Prevention System – a framework designed to provide support matched to student needs to maximize achievement and reduce behavior problems; consists of three levels of intensity or prevention that include high-quality core instruction and evidence-based interventions and supports.
• Data-based Decision Making – a process for making informed decisions about instructional
needs, the effectiveness of instruction, and level of intensity needed within a multi-level prevention system; utilizes the problem solving process (i.e., identify needs, select interventions, plan implementation, implement plan, and examine progress) which drives Georgia’s Systems of Continuous Improvement to ensure fidelity of implementation of Georgia’s Tiered System of Supports for Students.
• Infrastructure and Support Mechanism - the organizational structure necessary to fully operationalize all components of Georgia’s Tiered System of Supports for Students to meet the established goals; includes leadership, professional learning, effective teaming, and family and community engagement.
Some of the critical elements of PBIS are:
- PBIS Leadership Team that guides the implementation
- A Statement of purpose
- Three to five school-wide positive behavioral expectations
- Procedures for teaching the expectations, including a behavioral matrix explaining how those expectations will look in the school
- Lesson plans that incorporate the behavioral expectations
- Acknowledgement system that recognizes students using expected behavior – both within and outside the classroom
- Flowchart of detailed procedures showing how to handle student misbehaviors school-wide – both within and outside the classroom
- Data-based system for monitoring implementation, fidelity, and outcomes
Contact Information
Dr. Kenya Gilmore
Director, Prevention and Intervention Practices
706-748-3339
Tallian Pugh
Prevention and Intervention Practices Specialist (Elementary)
706-748-1085
Michelle Pate
Prevention and Intervention Practices Technical Assistant
706-748-3285
Dr. Nikki Sutton
Program Manager of MTSS Implementation/ Section 504
706-748-2196
Ronda Allen
Prevention and Intervention Practices Specialist (Secondary)
706-748-3286
Courtney Lamar
Mental Health Coordinator
706-748-3303
Dawn Grantham
Prevention and Intervention Practices Specialist (Secondary)
706-748-2211