UC Riverside

One of the primary goals of any multi-tiered intervention system delivered within an educational setting is to provide an appropriate level of support to each student based upon his or her demonstrated level of need. It has been established that approximately 95% of students served under a multi-tiered intervention system will have their needs met without ever entering into the highest tier of support. However, for the 5% of students who do enter into the restrictive settings associated with top tier service delivery, educational, as well as overall life outcomes, have traditionally been demonstrated to be very poor. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of utilizing a multi-tiered intervention system to address behavior problems exhibited by primary age students within a highly restrictive, top tier setting. Although multi-tiered intervention systems such as Response to Intervention (RtI) and Positive Behavior Support (PBS) have previously been applied across various types of educational settings to address both academic and behavioral deficits, little attention has been paid to the utility of such approaches for addressing problem behavior for students who are educated within alternative educational settings. The current study sought to evaluate the utility of a behaviorally based RtI service delivery model, delivered within a highly restrictive setting, to decrease problem behaviors, increase pro-social behavior, and to guide placement decisions.