Center for Interconnected Behavioral and Mental Health Systems (CIBMHS)/Alabama Positive Behavior Intervention & Support (PBIS) Office Statement on Alabama State Department of Education “MTSS” Initiative

Thank you to all of our wonderful Alabama partners! We want to address recent confusion regarding the Alabama State Department introducing “MTSS” as something new. Our Center has been aligned with national practices (pbis.org) and federal guidelines (ESSA, 2015) for more than 7 years regarding the integration of RtI and PBIS within a multitiered framework, or MTSS. This idea is not new and often introducing something as “new” creates confusion and initiative abandonment. If your school or district has been trained by our office, you have been ahead of this new push by the state department and you are already implementing MTSS. The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 has required this for 7 years already.

Please reach out with questions and congratulations for being an education leader for our state!

• Dr. Sara McDaniel, scmcdaniel@ua.edu
• DeAna Byrd, dhbyrd@ua.edu