Examine systems, data and practices in academics, social-emotional, behavior and other areas within and across classrooms, grades, schools and districts to streamline approaches resulting in better outcomes for all.
The Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU) offers a variety of professional learning opportunities to help educators strengthen behavior and social-emotional supports, including:
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- Standalone workshops on behavior and SEL
- Ongoing coaching and consultation
- Technical assistance aligned to MTSS and trauma-informed practices
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Whether your school is just beginning its SEL journey or seeking to deepen an existing MTSS framework, we’re here to support you in creating environments where every student can succeed—academically, behaviorally, and emotionally.
Reframing Behavior Through the Lens of Instruction and Social-Emotional Learning
Webster’s Dictionary defines behavior as “the way or manner in which one conducts oneself.” Yet, in the context of education, behavior often takes on a more negative connotation—commonly reduced to issues of noncompliance or framed within the “Three D’s”: defiance, disrespect, and disruption. Within this mindset, behavior is seen as a deficit, something to be corrected or punished.
But what if we approached behavior the same way we approach academic struggles?
When a student struggles in reading or math, we respond with instruction, support, and patience. Why should behavior be any different?
Under a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), behavior is not an isolated issue—it’s one of the key outcomes, alongside academic and social-emotional growth. According to Pennsylvania’s MTSS framework, educators are tasked with developing students across three domains:
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- Academic
- Behavioral
- Social-emotional
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At the foundation of this system is social-emotional learning (SEL). When SEL is intentionally and effectively embedded into the school environment, it strengthens students’ ability to regulate emotions, form positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. As a result, improvements in both academic performance and behavioral outcomes naturally follow.
Offerings that Span Tiers 1, 2, and 3
Leading Change: Building Inclusive and Comprehensive Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
This is a yearlong synchronous and asynchronous course from September – May with multiple options for synchronous dates.
Strengthen your leadership capacity to design and implement effective MTSS systems through this year-long, hybrid learning experience. Engage in meaningful collaboration, job-embedded practice, and guided reflection as you develop a comprehensive action plan to improve student outcomes. This course equips school and district leaders with the tools needed to drive sustainable, equitable systems-level change.
Data Talks: From Data to Impact
Starts Friday, October 9, 2026 | 10:00 AM-11:00 AM Virtual
Are you using many data tools within your space? How do you decide how to use data efficiently to make decisions across your system? Join us for 6 1-hour synchronous meetings designed to help leadership teams build sustainable systems that respond to real students’ needs. Participants are invited but not required to attend all 6 sessions.
Behavior for Advanced Tiers: Developing Mentoring Programs for Individual Students in Tiers 1, 2, 3
Thursday, May 13, 2027 | 8:30 AM-11:30 AM Virtual
How do you organize mentorship across all three tiers of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)? This workshop will define the underlying purposes and components for all mentoring supports. Time will be given for organizing mentorships which integrate with any prior work you have already done with positive behavior supports, school climate, restorative practices, or existing mentorship you may have in place.
Universal Offerings (Tier 1)
Teaming Structures for Universal Supports
Thursday, October 15, 2026 | 8:30 AM-11:30 AM
How are you creating teaming for not only your teams that provide behavior support but also student teams in your buildings that help support overall community support in schools?
This workshop will discuss meaningful teaming for staff, students, and community. We will also look at how consistent language will help create a system of support in your environment.
Integrating Social Emotional Learning to Establish and Teach Schoolwide and Classwide Expectations
Wednesday, October 14, 2026 | 8:30 AM-11:30 AM Virtual
Are you struggling with integrating your Social Emotional Learning within your classrooms?
In this session we will create schoolwide, classroom, and learning spaces that align to trauma informed practices, belonging, and career ready skills.
We will come up with Language to help support learning environments that create consistent language and learning for all.
Classroom Management Within MTSS: Building Systems That Support Every Student
Wednesday, November 11, 2026 | 12:30 PM-3:30 PM Virtual
What if your classroom systems could prevent most behavior challenges before they even start? Strong classroom management is the foundation of Tier 1 support within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). In this engaging professional learning session, educators will explore proactive, evidence-based practices such as teaching clear expectations, establishing predictable routines, actively supervising students, and using positive acknowledgement to create classrooms where all students can thrive.
Data Protocol: Team Initiated Problem Solving for Tier 1 Academic and Behavioral Outcomes
Thursday, November 19, 2026 | 8:30 AM-3:30 PM
This workshop will be a hands-on simulation of Team Initiated Problem Solving protocol for academic and behavior planning. Specific focus will include managing the intentional integration of academic and behavior/social emotional data and problem solving at the universal, group level. This includes preparing participants to run efficient and effective meetings using the Team Initiated Problem Solving agenda/minutes protocol. Discussions will include examples of how to write precision statements for system level supports as well as monitoring structures in a meeting format. This module will include evaluation for both fidelity and outcome.
Setting up Systems to Define and Respond to Student Behaviors
Thursday, December 10, 2026 | 12:30 PM-3:30 PM
Do staff and students in your buildings struggle with how behaviors are defined and what procedures are in place for responding to this behavior? In this session, we will look at how consistent language within defining behaviors as well as responding to behaviors. We will look at data in order to understand system level processes and aligning these to classroom management strategies.
Setting up Schoolwide and Classwide Acknowledgement Systems to Increase Student Feedback
Thursday, April 8, 2027 | 9:00 AM-12:00 PM Virtual
Are you wanting to set up school wide acknowledgement systems that can then be paired with classwide acknowledgement systems?
In this session we will begin to build and/or expand student and staff schoolwide acknowledgment systems. We will also discuss in depth the importance of layered acknowledgement in the classroom.
Tiers 2 & 3 Offerings (Advanced Tiers)
Overview with a Focus on Behavior Systems at the Advanced Tiers
Monday, September 28, 2026 | 9:00 AM-3:00 PM
How do systems at the district, school, and classroom levels impact learning and support needed interventions? This introductory training will focus on the intentional integration of systems, data, and practices across all tiers and all students, inclusive of those with special educational needs. Using the Working Smarter Not Harder matrix (Center on PBIS), participants will map and examine what they already have in place in their settings to address academic, social-emotional, behavioral, attendance, safety, and other relevant areas. While keeping the MTSS outcome triangle ratios in mind, attendees will learn about critical features of each tier, screening considerations using different types of data, equity of support, intervention resource planning including use of standards-based and/or evidence-based practices/interventions.
Teaming Structures for Advanced Tiered Supports
Thursday, October 15, 2026 | 12:30 PM-3:30 PM
How do systems at the district, school, and classroom levels organize to impact learning and support needed interventions? Team Meeting Foundations, part of the Team Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) team meeting protocol, will guide this training. This evidence-based practice ensures optimal teaming structures and operating procedures. Participants will revisit the Working Smarter Not Harder matrix (Center on PBIS) presented in MTSS/PBIS/Behavior for Advanced Tiers: Overview with a Focus on Behavior Systems to reexamine their existing school teams. Team organizing including intentional selection, alignment to mission, purpose setting, logistics including norms and defining roles, and structured communication loops will be covered.
Team Initiated Problem Solving for Advanced Tiers
Monday, January 25, 2027 | 8:30 AM-3:30 PM
Learn how teams effectively manage and adapt student interventions while keeping staff informed through clear, system-wide processes. In this interactive session, participants will engage in a hands-on simulation of the Team-Initiated Problem Solving protocol, focusing on integrating academic and behavioral data to support both individual and small group needs. Walk away ready to run efficient, data-driven meetings using practical tools like precision statements and structured monitoring systems.
Tiers 2 Offerings (Advanced Tiers)
Determining Risk Using Universal Screeners
Thursday, December 10, 2026 | 9:00 AM-11:00 AM
How do systems at the district, school, and classroom levels determine if what is being provided in Tier 1 is working, or if there are students who are at risk? This module will feature three popular, commercially available, evidence-based screeners for internalizing and/or externalizing behaviors: the SSRS-IE, SAEBRS, and SDQ. Information will include how to select, install, and interpret the data from these Universal Screeners, how these Universal Screeners inform intervention selection for your Intervention Grid, and where these Universal Screeners fit into your MTSS assessment portfolio. It is recommended that this module is taken in conjunction with MTSS/PBIS/Behavior: Setting Up Systems for Support- Planning Your Intervention Grid.
Options for Tier 2 Interventions: Check In, Check Out and Breaks are Better
Monday, October 19, 2026 | 8:30 AM-11:30 AM
How do systems at the district, school, and classroom levels determine which Tier 2 Interventions they should use? This training will present two evidence-based interventions. Check In Check Out (CICO), the most popular, has a 65%-75% effectiveness rate when done to fidelity. Breaks are Better (BrB) is for students in grades 3-12 whose primary function of behavior is avoidance.
Options for Tier 2 Interventions: Social/Academic Instructional Groups and Homegrown Interventions
Monday, October 19, 2026 | 12:30 PM-3:30 PM
How do systems at the district, school, and classroom levels determine which Tier 2 interventions they should use? This training will present Social Academic Instructional Groups (SAIG), an evidence-based intervention that is NOT another group offering provided by your school counselor! SAIG’s provide intensified social skills instruction and can be led by a variety of adults! Best practices and must-haves for ‘homegrown’ Tier 2 interventions will also be covered.
Setting Up Systems for Support – Planning your Intervention Grid
Tuesday, February 9, 2027 | 8:30-11:30
PART 1: organizing, matching, and providing advanced tier supports using the Intervention Grid tool for team decision making. Establishing entrance criteria based on universally screening existing Tier 1 data and leveraging existing personnel to provide these supports.
Setting Up Systems for Support – Building Your Intervention Grid
Tuesday, February 9, 2027 | 12:30 PM-3:30 PM
PART 2: Using the Intervention Grid tool for team decision making and determining if the advanced tier support is working through the use of progress monitoring and fidelity checks. Establishing exit criteria from the support providing teams time saving pre-established decision rules.
Tier 3 Offerings (Advanced Tiers)
Tier 3 Readiness: Teaming & Referral Processes for Supporting At-Risk Students
Tuesday, October 6, 2026 | 9:00 AM-12:00 PM
How do you organize and prepare team members to support students who are most at risk or most need? This session will explore integrating Tier 3 problem solving teams with existing teams such as Student Assistance Program (SAP), Child Study, and other student support structures. Most up to date guidance in the field will be share for referral processes and setting up responsive systems at the Tier 3 level and how this interfaces with special education processes.
Tier 3 K-12 Student Level Supports: Check and Connect Introduction and Training
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 | 8:30 AM-11:30 AM
Check & Connect is a Tier 3 intervention from the University of Minnesota used with K-12 students who are at risk of dropping out. At its core, it is a trusting relationship between the student and a caring, trained mentor who both advocates for and challenges the student to keep education salient. Students are referred to Check & Connect when they show warning signs of disengaging from school, such as poor attendance, behavioral issues, and/or low grades. The full training consists of 2 sessions: Introduction to Planning and Implementation and a separate 1 day session for Check & Connect mentors (inclusive of the Check & Connect manual). This session is open to administrators and advanced tier team members and introduces Check & Connect practices, data collection, and guidance on how to design and build Check & Connect as part of your advanced tier support offerings.
Tier 3 Secondary Level Student Supports: RENEW Person-Centered Planning and Transition Support, Customized Training and Coaching
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 | 12:30 PM-1:30 PM
RENEW (Resilience, Empowerment, and Natural supports for Education and Work) is a structured Tier 3 strategy from the University of New Hampshire. RENEW includes school-to-career transition planning and an individualized wraparound process designed to support transition-aged (14+)youth who are struggling at school, home, or in their community. RENEW facilitators are trained by MCIU to use person-centered planning and develop a structured approach to formal and informal supports that help students develop their own specific plans.
Recent Behavior Posts
Finding Our Calm: Co-Regulating Through the End-of-Year Whirlwind
Layered Acknowledgement in: Celebrating Students Like It’s Our Job (Because It Is!)
Empathy in Education: Transforming Classrooms with Understanding
5 Effective Ways to Create a Culture of Trust and Respect in Your Classroom
How To Avoid The Power Struggle
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Behavior Instruction: Embracing System-level Change to Positively Impact Academic Performance
Today’s Thoughts: Pandemic Positives for Montgomery County Schools
Podcast Episodes
Meet the Team
Reach out to any of the team members for more information.
