Middle school multi-tiered systems of support problem solving: An action research dissertation

This study is a mixed methods action research dissertation which focuses on the equity of the identification of students at the local level of Douglas Middle School’s current Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Individual Problem Solving (IPS) process in regards to gender and ethnicity. Using failing grades and recorded discipline events to determine academic and behavior needs, male students at Douglas Middle School are in more need of an IPS plan for both behavior and academics compared to female students. However, there is still some inequitable disproportionality present in the system as male students are about 2.3 times as likely as female students to have an IPS plan, a greater disparity than for failing grades and discipline reports. White and Hispanic/Latino students are more likely than other students to have an IPS plan while Asian students are less likely to have an IPS plan. However, Black or African American students are most in need of an IPS plan for both behavior and academics compared to students of other ethnicities. The sensemaking framework is used to explore why the current MTSS IPS process is inequitable in regards to gender and ethnicity. Staff interviews indicated that staff focus on students who “stick out” from their peers and that they felt that their colleagues may get too focused on an individual student. Staff interviews also indicated that the sensemaking that occurs during team meetings involves not only sensemaking about a student, but also sensemaking about the other teachers on the team. The action plan described in Chapter 5 includes two recommendations to improve the equity of the identification of students for IPS at Douglas Middle School: an IPS recommendation protocol and an end of quarter equity data analysis.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• McMahon, Margaret

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bruno , Paul
• Mason , Erica
• Meadan-Kaplansky, Hedda
• Roegman , Rachel

• MTSS
• problem solving

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Margaret McMahon

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116074

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F116074