Effective collaboration is a vital component to implementing any school or district initiative. This is especially true for implementing a multi-tier system of support (MTSS) within a school facility. Teams must work together to develop a plan for implementation and ongoing evaluation. Throughout the process of creating, implementing, and evaluation of a support system, strong leadership is needed to help guide teams through conflict and to ensure the system is being implemented and monitored with fidelity. For this Course Project, you will use the CEC Standard for Collaboration to guide your work in creating a professional development session, a resource guide, and a data collection tool for either an RtI or PBIS process. You will conclude the Course Project by reflecting on collaboration and its impacts on implementing an MTSS with fidelity within an educational setting.
To prepare
· Consult and reflect upon the course resources as well as on outside resources (e.g., peer-reviewed journal articles) that you found and integrated into your work to illustrate and support your Discussion posts and your assignments—you will need to use these as resources to complete your work.
· Reflect upon the training needs of staff working within educational settings regarding collaboration for school-wide support systems.
o Review the CEC Advanced Preparation Standard 7: Collaboration and reflect upon your experiences with collaborating with others to improve outcomes, services, and programs for students with exceptionalities. Think about how effective collaboration can impact the implementation of school-wide support systems.
o Review the CEC Advanced Preparation Standard 7: Collaboration and reflect upon your experiences with collaborating with others to improve outcomes, services, and programs for students with exceptionalities. Think about how effective collaboration can impact the implementation of school-wide support systems.
CEC Advanced Preparation Standard 7 Collaboration 7.0 Special education specialists collaborate with stakeholders to improve programs, services, and outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities and their families.
Key Elements
o 7.1 Special education specialists use culturally responsive practices to enhance collaboration.
o 7.2 Special education specialists use collaborative skills to improve programs, services, and outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities.
o 7.3 Special education specialists collaborate to promote understanding, resolve conflicts, and build consensus for improving program, services, and outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities
Format for the project: Use the following format to complete this Course Project. It is critical that you use multiple reference citations from the modules as well as your own research. Please see the rubric for evaluation criteria.
Title Page
Part 1: District-wide Professional Development Presentation
Create a 12- to 15-slide multimedia presentation introducing an RtI or PBIS that you can implement in the future to an elementary or secondary school staff. Design your presentation to meet the needs of your current district or community. Include the following:
· Overview of identified model
· Identification of each tier including the process of moving between each tier
· Three examples of interventions that could be implemented at each level
· Use of checklists or illustrations to describe the process
· Explanation of the role of special education within the model selected
· Importance of collaboration in the RtI or PBIS process
Part II: Resource Guide for Teachers
Create a Resource Guide for Teachers (depending on your choice for Part I), with at least 10 resources that provide information regarding the RtI or PBIS process you chose, to be distributed during your presentation. Concisely explain how each resource may be used to support students with diverse learning needs.
Part III: Collaboration
Write a 4- to 5-page reflection addressing the following topics:
· Explain the role of collaboration in the implementation of MTSS across levels (i.e., school, district, state). Discuss two strategies for effective collaboration and at least one additional strategy that discusses culturally responsive practices.
· Describe at least two strategies to collaborate and involve parents/guardians with regards to MTSS. Analyze the impacts on student learning when parents/guardians are partners with educators, citing evidence from the course readings.
· Analyze the role of leadership in guiding collaborative implementation of MTSS across tiers in a school. Provide two or three examples, with descriptions, to support your analysis.
· Examine the relationship between conflict, collaboration, and consensus. Provide at least two strategies for collaborative problem solving when conflict arises.
Your final document for this Course Project must include the following:
· Title page
· Part I: 12- to 15-slide multimedia presentation
· Part II: 2- to 3-page Resource Guide
· Part III: 4- to 5-page paper
· Reference page
For this Assignment, you will compare the RtI processes used in the elementary school and high school shared in the media examples.
Learning Resources
Note: To access this module’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
Brown-Chidsey, R. & Bickford, R. (2016). Practical handbook of multi-tiered systems of support: Building academic and behavioral success in schools. New York, NY: Guildford Press.
· Chapter 9, “The Science of Change” (pp. 87–94)
· Chapter 12, “Innovation and Sustainability (pp. 115–128)
