State Systems Coaching: Meeting the Needs of District Systems Coaches

ABSTRACT

Many state education agencies provide supports for local education agencies (LEAs) that are implementing tiered frameworks or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). With a 61% response rate to an online survey, 35 LEA-level systems coaches identified what state-level supports were helpful in facilitating MTSS implementation. Responses highlighted the importance of state coaches knowing the LEA’s needs, which was most likely to occur when state coaches attended onsite meetings, met with district leaders, reviewed data, and actively problem solved with the LEA. Participants indicated that the monthly meetings led by the state coaches for the local implementers were difficult to attend and may not have been as helpful as hoped. The online modules which were intended to create foundational understanding, were not as beneficial as the annual conferences. Implications for practice include the importance of connecting coaching practices to the specific needs of the LEA and providing funding for professional development.

The authors whose names are listed immediately below certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Author names to be included when accepted for publication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ Throughout this paper, MTSS will be used to describe both MTSS and SWPBS frameworks.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ellie L. Young

Ellie L. Young is an Associate Professor of School Psychology at Brigham Young University.  Her research interests include working with school systems to promote the emotional well-being of youth through the effective implementation of multi-tiered supports and using behavioral screening to improve student outcomes.

Sara E. Moulton

Sara E. Moulton is an adjunct faculty researcher in the Counseling Psychology and Special Education Department at Brigham Young University. Her research interests include scale construction and development, item response theory modeling, data-based decision-making in educational settings, and implementation and evaluation of multi-tiered systems of support.

Elizabeth Cutrer-Párraga

Elizabeth Cutrer-Párraga is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Brigham Young University. Her research foci and scholarly interests include multicultural education issues in special education, and mentor-preservice/inservice teacher relationships within the contexts of literacy coaching cycles. Elizabeth's focus also includes literacy intervention in school settings that promote the social/emotional well-being of children who struggle with reading and writing.

Cade T. Charlton

Cade T. Charlton is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Brigham Young University. His research focuses on identifying empirically-supported practices and designing supports to encourage full implementation of these practices within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). As a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst, Cade’s work is informed by the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Organizational Behavior Management (OBM).

Christian V. Sabey

Christian V. Sabey is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Brigham Young University. His research and scholarly interests include identifying effective interventions for students with emotional/behavioral disorders and improving our model of delivering behavior supports to these students. This focus includes working within multi-tiered systems of support to promote efficiency, durability, and effectiveness.

Devin Healey

Devin Healey is a tiered supports coordinator in the student and family services department in Davis School District. He provides training and coaching support to schools on the implementation of tiered supports practices including positive behavior supports, social emotional learning, classroom management, team-based problem-solving, and academic and behavior interventions.