Implementing Systematic Supports: A Guide for Secondary Schools
by Hank Bohanon
My co-authors and I recently published Implementing Systematic Interventions: A Guide for Secondary School Teams with Routledge Press. The book focuses on providing supports for secondary school teams who are implementing school-wide supports. While few resources exist to guide secondary school teams, this book was our attempt to fill this gap in the literature.
While there are many fantastic resources available to schools, staff are looking for resources they can use to improve outcomes for their secondary students.
A Problem for Secondary Schools
Unfortunately, many of these tools were not written with secondary schools in mind. It takes a lot of time to translate resources from primary school examples into language secondary staff will use. Staff can begin to feel frustrated when they know that many of their approaches contain ideas that could work in secondary schools.
Providing Secondary Schools with Guidance
Schools should not have to worry about finding resources that would be acceptable to their team members to read or use, particularly those that require translation to secondary school language.
My co-authors and I understand the dilemma. We spent years trying to find examples and approaches that would be useful for secondary settings. That brings us to the book, Implementing Systematic Interventions A Guide for Secondary School Teams.
The book is accessibly written and intentionally designed for secondary schools. It provides the tools they need to organize for and smoothly implement school-wide intervention strategies successfully.
More specifically, the book is designed to help schools:
- Organize administrative support and leadership teams
- Create effective communication techniques and protocols
- Use effective models to select school-specific priorities
- Support staff and students during the transition
- Identify desired outcomes and assess whether or not they've been achieved
- Use effective models to select school-specific priorities
- Support staff and students during the transition
- Identify desired outcomes and assess whether or not they've been achieved.
How to Use This Book
- As a study guide
- As a book study for a professional learning community
- To augment ongoing professional development
- To help establish buy-in and develop readiness for school-based secondary staff
- To supplement your current tool kit to support your intervention efforts ranging from school-wide to classroom-level interventions
The book is grounded in both experience and research and was written to be practical for application. I encourage you to look at Implementing Systematic Interventions: A Guide for Secondary School Teams on Amazon or wherever you purchase books.
For those interested, here are some additional resources and information related to the book
Check out this link for the table of contents and some "Nutshells" that help outline what is included in each chapter. We also created a short video that explains more about the purpose of the book!
You Can See Sample Blogs Based On the Book
You can also find free samples of chapters from the book here.
A Little About the Co-Authors
Lisa Caputo Love earned her elementary education undergraduate degree and masters in special education at the Loyola University of Chicago. She is a special education teacher in Chicago Public Schools. Kelly Morrissey earned both her doctoral degree in educational psychology and her special education teaching endorsement at Loyola. Kelly is the Director of Director of Personal Learning and Student Support for the Maine Township Schools in Illinois.
Here is what people have been saying about the book…
"This book provides a long-awaited resource, a multi-tiered system of support book written specifically with secondary school staff in mind. Drawing upon years of PBIS research and combined expertise, the authors inspire new ways of thinking about discipline, behavior, and learning. Filled with engaging, often humorous stories, jargon-free examples, and sample scenarios, this book is one that readers will return to time and time again for relevant, easy to understand, and ready to apply information and resources."
Karen L. Berlin, M.Ed., BCBA, LBA, Coordinator, Region 4 Training and Technical Assistance Center, Virginia MTSS, George Mason University, USA
Bohanon, Caputo Love, and Morrissey provide a valuable guide for the implementation of school-wide systems of support within the unique context of high school settings. This informative resource provides practical direction and real-life examples that can be applied to improve school climate and effective supports to improve student outcomes at the secondary level."
Steve Goodman, Ph.D., Director, Michigan's MTSS Technical Assistance Center
Implementing Systematic Interventions merges the perfect combination of qualitative and quantitative research to examine how to effectively execute systemic change. Offering formulaic approaches to nuanced topics–such as what makes an effective team, setting the stage for systemic change, and crafting meaningful feedback–if you're in the process of making modifications at the secondary level, this is the book for you!"
Lindsey L. Jensen, 2018 Illinois Teacher of the Year & Recipient of the 2020 NEA-Illinois Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence
We hope the book will help you move your staff away from believing that implementing improvement efforts and tiered supports are impossible in secondary schools. I believe you will find practical examples that will make your life easier when working with secondary schools.
See this link for information about where to find the book (link).
We are grateful for the continued support of the Loyola University of Chicago community and the School Social Work Network readership — we are so hopeful the book serves its purpose and enhances your practice!
Hank Bohanon is a professor at the Loyola University of Chicago. He focuses his research on multi-tiered systems of support and school improvement in secondary school settings. For information about Hank’s work, go to http://www.hankbohanon.net or email him at [email protected]
