Leading Equity-Based Mtss for All Students - Paperback

by Amy McCart (Author), Dawn Dee Miller (Author)

Ensure that Every Child Achieves Academic and Social Success

An equity-based multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) helps school teams engage all students across the full range of learning needs. MTSS ensures that the vision of equity for every student is achieved, with high expectations and quality instruction, while not straining a school's budget or personnel.

Amy McCart and Dawn Miller seek to transform education so that it benefits educators, students, their families, and ultimately the communities in which they live. The authors do this by providing tools and methods to implement equity-based MTSS to improve academic, behavior and social outcomes for all students. This strategy-filled book teaches you how to
- Engage all students in learning through an equity-based approach
- Analyze and utilize your resources
- Apply strengths- and evidence-based principles for implementation
- Incorporate effective tools to systematize MTSS

Authentic examples across multiple grade levels and subjects contextualize the proven method presented in this book. The authors draw on their experience as SWIFT Education Center professional developers to guide you into creating an MTSS tailored to be effective for your student body.

Author Biography

Amy McCart is an Associate Research Professor with the Life Span Institute and Adjunct Faculty with the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas. She is the Co-Director for the Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation (SWIFT) Education Center, established in 2012 as part of the largest grant award received in KU history. SWIFT is a national technical assistance center providing academic and behavioral support for all students, including those with the most needs. SWIFT Center combines the strengths of general and special educators in a three-tiered model of instruction. Amy leads a team of professionals serving urban, rural, and high-needs schools across the nation including California, New Hampshire, Maryland, Mississippi, Oregon, and Vermont. Additionally, she is the Principal Investigator for multiple federal projects through the U.S. DOE to support urban schools implementing schoolwide positive behavior support. As part of her work with schoolwide PBS, she serves as a collaborating partner in the National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavior Intervention and Support. Amy has worked in a number of urban schools, including the Recovery School District in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools; and the District of Columbia, Washington Public Schools. She was Site Director at an agency supporting individuals with extensive disabilities working to improve quality of life. Amy traveled to South Africa as part of a delegation from the United States Office of Special Education Programs to share ideas with the Department of Basic Education for the Republic of South Africa.

Dawn Miller is part of SWIFT Center's Executive Team at the University of Kansas, and with Michael McSheehan, authored the SWIFT Technical Assistance Playbook, which outlines and describes SWIFT's six TA practices. Dawn′s role at SWIFT focuses on content and process support for LEA Facilitators. She is also a published author of works about implementation and sustainability of MTSS, use of a problem-solving process, assessing written language, and family communication and involvement. Prior to her work with SWIFT, Dawn was a district team member leading planning, staff development, implementation, and evaluation for MTSS efforts around integrated academic and behavior supports in Kansas schools. She was also instrumental in statewide implementation of the problem-solving process and developing the Kansas Multi-Tiered System of Support. As part of the statewide efforts, Dawn was involved with a statewide committee that led state regulation changes regarding child find and eligibility and has helped to translate these changes into district procedural changes linked to the School Improvement Process. Based on her work in Kansas and it other states, she became a blog writer, guest host, and provided virtual coaching for the National Association for Learning Disabilities RTI Network for several years.