A Program Evaluation of the Behavioral Intervention Component of the Virginia Tiered Systems of Support in Three Middle Schools

The Virginia Tiered Systems of Support (VTSS) represents the merger of the behavioral side Positive Behavioral Supports (PBIS) and the academic side Response to Interventions (RtI) (Mann & Leutscher, 2014). VTSS is the Commonwealth of Virginia\u27s adaptation of the federally required systemic response program schools are expected to adopt to address the behavioral and academic needs of students (Landers, Courtade, & Ryndak, 2012; Prasse et al., 2012). The development of specific implementation guidelines has been assigned to local levels of leadership. Thus, VTSS programming differences are common between both districts and schools. The purpose of this study is to assess the implementation levels of the behavioral components of three middle schools within the same school district. Three middle schools were selected for this study. The schools operate in the same school district and are separated by approximately ten miles. The study revealed that the schools varied greatly in their interpretation and facilitation of VTSS despite having access to similar resources and external supports. The degrees of behavioral programming implementation and the types of behavioral interventions varied by school location, and these differences are related a variety of different variables: from each school-based VTSS teams\u27 diverse interpretation of VTSS objectives to insufficient faculty buy-in of VTSS-recommended interventions. Additionally, the study revealed that the schools desire to correct the implementation issues and seek to have more central office-driven standardization in programming among their locations