PRACTITIONER'S TOOLKIT

Ready-to-Use MTSS Templates, Guides, and Implementation Resources

Open-access frameworks, screening cut-score guides, and implementation tools for K-12 data teams.

 

Academic & Behavioral Intervention Checklists

The Intervention Design Checklist

  - What it is: A quality-control tool to evaluate whether your current academic interventions contain the active ingredients of success (such as explicit instruction, systematic pacing, high Opportunities to Respond, and feedback loops).
  - Best Used For: Observing interventions in action, reviewing a proposed program, or developing school-wide fidelity checklists.

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Fidelity & Implementation Monitoring

MTSS Intervention Fidelity Checklist

​What it is: A structured administrative observation and self-reflection tool to measure program delivery, instructional adherence, and student dosage integrity.

Best Used For: Ensuring that student improvement is not impacted by inconsistent program delivery.

 

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Instructional and Intervention Syntheses 

What it is: Condensed, evidence-based briefs summarizing highly effective strategies for instruction, intervention, and assessment

📘 Literacy & Reading Syntheses

• Evidence-Based Reading Syntheses (PDF) - Core decoding, fluency, and comprehension strategies.

• Reading Fluency Synthesis (PDF) - Deep dive into oral reading rates and automaticity.

• Repeated Reading with Question Generation (PDF) - For grade 3+ students with high accuracy but low comprehension

 

🧮 Mathematics Syntheses

• Dyscalculia Synthesis (PDF) - Targeted interventions for profound math deficits.

• Math Fact Fluency Synthesis (PDF) - Baroody's Mastery Phases and strategy-based instruction.

 

⚙️ Systems Implementation

• Intervention Integrity Synthesis (PDF) - Systemic fidelity and delivery tracking.​

• Looping Synthesis (PDF) - Teachers continue with a group of students for more than a year

• PST Process - example and framework

• Social Emotional Screening (PDF) - Best practices in screening behavior and emotions

• Teacher Specialization Review (PDF) - Content-focused instruction insights.

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📊 Program Evaluation & Intervention

Program Evaluation & Intervention Selection
Tools and systematic frameworks to help leadership teams choose, assess, and scale evidence-based practices.

• Hexagon Tool Exploration & Guide (Go to Page) - A structured framework for evaluating intervention fit, capacity, and readiness.

• District Program Evaluation Protocol (Go to Page) - Systematic tracking for school-wide implementation outcomes.

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​​Data-Based Decision Making & Special Education Integration

​Establishing Universal Screening Data-Based Decision Making Guidelines (Tiers of Performance)

Screening data should bring clarity to student needs, not tears to your data meetings. When universal screening cut scores are uncalibrated or risk thresholds are applied inconsistently, leadership teams end up with overflowing Tier 2/3 lists, missed student needs, and wasted intervention resources.

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"Tears or Tiers for Data Analysis?" is a practical decision-making resource designed to help school teams transform messy screening scores into clear, defensible tier placements. It provides a systematic framework for evaluating individual student performance against local norms so teams can quickly determine who is on track, who needs supplemental support, and how to allocate intervention capacity efficiently.

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Key Areas of Focus
Defensible Cut-Score Calibration: How to move beyond generic publisher defaults to establish technically sound local risk thresholds.

Streamlined Risk Triaging: A quick-decision workflow for evaluating student scores immediately following seasonal screening benchmarks.

Tier Capacity Alignment: Structuring data analysis so Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions remain manageable and targeted rather than overwhelmed.

Data-Based Decision Integrity: Ensuring high-stakes placement decisions are supported by reliable, multi-source assessment data.

Read the Full Article: [Link to Blog Post]

Download Ohio Tiers of Performance Example​

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​​Writing Legally Defensible IEPs with CBM Data
  - What it is: A practitioner's guide to using low-inference, highly reliable Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs) to write precise IEP present levels and measurable annual goals.
  - Key Focus Areas: Moving away from subjective progress monitoring and establishing clear rates of improvement (ROI).

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​Secondary Reevaluations: "Making the Most of the Last Reevaluation"
  - What it is: A framework for high school multidisciplinary teams to optimize the final three-year reevaluation, focusing on transition planning and post-secondary accommodations.

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