Theses and Dissertations
Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice
Advisor
Hardwick Smith Johnson, Jr.
Committee Member
Sherry Burke
Keywords
multi-tiered system of supports, response to intervention, early intervention, academic achievement, differentiated instruction, title 1 schools
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges that teachers faced when it came to the implementation of interventions and recommendations in the Mult-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). Through the MTSS, educators provided concentrated teaching, detected early signs of issues related to academic, behavioral, and speech deficiencies, and recommended fact-based interventions and practices in response to students’ needs. Identifying students’ deficits early reduced the risk of large student gaps and improved overall progress. Participants were seven Pre-k through Grade 5 teachers working in a Title 1 school located in a large metropolitan city area. Participants were selected through probability sampling. The research design was grounded theory design. Data was collected with an interview protocol and analyzed for themes to answer three research questions. Data analysis was guided by the constant comparative data analysis procedure (Creswell, 2023).
For Research Question 1, four themes described the challenges experienced when teachers implemented interventions. Examples of the themes are: (a) insufficient time to implement MTSS interventions contributed to teacher stress, (b) insufficient teacher training on using the MTSS, and (c) constantly absent students from classrooms unable to show progress on interventions. For Research Question 2, seven themes conveyed the teachers’ perspectives on the MTSS recommendations and how the recommendations were implemented within the classrooms. Examples of the themes are: (a) some interventions do not work as planned because students master the interventions and continue struggling with reading skills; (b) some students with no intervention plans do not receive the required teacher attention; and (c) MTSS may be modified with a period each day where students are pulled out of classrooms to work in less noisy environments.
For Research Question 3, four themes represented support that should be given to teachers to increase the effectiveness of MTSS interventions within the classrooms. Examples of the themes are: (a) allow teachers and parents more input in the development of the interventions because teachers know their students best; (b) assign support professionals to help teachers with interventions, especially first-year teachers; and (c) more modeling and hands-on training for teachers to understand and correctly implement interventions.
NSUWorks Citation
Amber Durrett Drake. 2024. Challenges Teachers Face When Implementing Mult-Tiered Systems of Supports: Recommendations and Interventions. Master's thesis. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. (666)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd/666.