Research–Practice Partnership: Application to Implementation of Multitiered System of Supports in Early Childhood Education

Purpose Research–practice partnerships (RPPs) offer a tool for identifying, generating, and implementing evidence-based strategies that improve practice, policies, and client outcomes. We offer a description of RPPs and elements that facilitate successful utilization. The origin of RPPs, various approaches, and anticipated barriers are discussed. We illustrate some of the challenges and rewards of establishing an RPP using an example of a project that sought to implement a multitiered system of supports among a variety of early childhood education classrooms in a large urban school district. Method A planning/leadership team established objectives and used surveys, focus groups, classroom observations, professional development records, and student outcome data to inform decision making. Results The district's progress in implementing multitiered system of supports in early childhood and ways in which implementation plans were modified as a result of data-based decision making are described. A number of un...