Tiered Systems of Adaptive Supports and the Individualization of Intervention: Merging Developmental Cascades and Correlated Constraints Perspectives

Abstract

Although tremendous advances have been made in the development of evidence-based services and strategies to prevent and treat emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) in children, often such programs may be necessary but not sufficient to address the circumstances and needs of a specific student. The purpose of this introductory article and this broader special issue on the adaptation and individualization of evidence-based approaches for students with EBD is to consider innovations for tailoring multifactored interventions within tiered systems of support. In this article, we discuss potential ways that current tiered models may be strengthened using information and research strategies from developmental science to more rigorously link intervention to long-term outcomes of youth. We center this discussion on the concepts of developmental cascades and correlated constraints. We then present Tiered Systems of Adaptive Supports (TSAS) as a framework that is developmentally informed to guide individualized intervention. In this model, Tier 1 focuses on adapting general classroom strategies to support the routine daily functioning of all students; Tier 2 focuses on preventing the negative reorganization of a student’s developmental system; and Tier 3 focuses on promoting the positive reorganization of a student’s developmental system.

Supporting the Inclusion of Socially Vulnerable Early Adolescents: Theory and Illustrations of the BASE Model

“…Because individual and ecological factors operate together as a system, they tend to constrain each other and promote stability in patterns of behavior and functioning (Magnusson and Cairns, 1996). This means that efforts to change one factor (e.g., the student's social behavior, how peers perceive and treat classmates who are different from themselves) are likely to have a modest and short-lived impact if other factors (i.e., correlated constraints) do not change in corresponding ways (Cairns and Cairns, 1994;Farmer et al, 2021). In the classroom setting, moment-to-moment activities and interactions contribute to each student's overall experiences and functioning.…”

“…This does not mean that everyone gets the same thing (Farmer, 2020). In a TSAS model, "universal" means that the context is structured to provide adaptive differential supports tailored to promote the routine daily functioning of all students whatever their needs may be (Sutherland et al, 2018;Hymel and Katz, 2019;Farmer et al, 2021).…”

“…Low-adaptive youth are likely to struggle across the academic, behavioral, and social domains and they are likely to have difficulty regulating their behavior and understanding how their own behavior contributes to their difficulties. Therefore, such students typically need tier 2 or tier 3 adaptive supports to help them to develop new skills and competencies (Farmer et al, 2021). However, individually focused interventions alone are not likely to "fix" the student and it is necessary to have real world, in-stream context focused interventions that complement more direct and explicit instruction in social skills (Farmer et al, 2018a;Bierman and Sanders, 2021).…”

Associations Between Student Behavior, Teacher Practice Delivery and Teacher Student Relationships: An Integrative Data Analytic Approach

“…To illustrate, prior work described social subtypes of students with or at risk for EBD. Subtypes included: 1) popular aggressive students, with high ratings of externalizing problems and average to high ratings of popularity in their classroom; 2) passive students with low to average ratings on externalizing problems and are typically shy-withdrawn with low social skills scores; and 3) low adaptive students, with low ratings in externalizing problems, low status in classroom social hierarchies, and risk of social isolation (Farmer et al, 2021). Each subtype is associated with peer di culties and implications for future problem behavior (Farmer et al, 2021).…”

“…Second, teacher-child closeness and teacher-child con ict are distinct constructs and as such do not always "move together" (Pianta, 1992); thus, it is important to consider how these two constructs operate in combination. Third, although students with or at risk for EBD often face social challenges, there is heterogeneity in the social experiences and skills of these students (Farmer et al, 2021). It may be that student problem behavior and social skills considered together contribute to characteristic pro les of student teacher working relationships and further enhance our understanding of these critical interactions.…”