Date of Conferral

8-13-2025

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Melissa McCart

Abstract

Multitiered systems of support (MTSS) has been shown to benefit students’ academic and behavioral performance in schools. However, despite 4 years of MTSS implementation in one local urban school district, English language arts (ELA) and math underachievement among students remained evident. Guided by Hall and Hord’s concerns-based adoption model, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore educators’ perceptions of MTSS for improving ELA and math achievement in the local urban school district. Ten educators purposively sampled from the local district participated in semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis using inductive, open coding of the interview data was conducted. Themes including (a) a disconnect between instruction and intervention practices, (b) insufficient professional development, and (c) inconsistent progress monitoring practices emerged from the data. Educators identified unclear MTSS expectations, limited resources, and attendance as issues that hindered the implementation of MTSS in the local setting. These findings suggest that educators need to better understand the district’s expectations for MTSS implementation and require ongoing professional development that offers training about proven strategies they can use to support students in the local setting. Therefore, a 3-day professional development for educators was created to strengthen MTSS implementation within the local urban school district. MTSS training and implementation that foster educator preparedness and facilitate shared understanding of the role MTSS plays in ELA and math instruction will likely result in better student performance, promoting positive social change over time.

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