Multidisciplinary team composition and teaming

Successful implementation requires coordinated effort among various stakeholders, including administrators, teachers, counselors, psychologists, families, and community partners, along with expertise in assessment and interventions that are both student-centered and evidence-based and which promote connection and belonging while minimizing student time away from learning.

Involves multidisciplinary school staff

Establishing a multidisciplinary team to respond to reports of concerning behavior is considered best practice.

Local education agencies can structure the team to best meet the local needs and available resources (school-based teams, a district-based team, or both).

Teams should include diverse representation from various disciplines and functions within the school community including, but not limited to, administration; individuals with mental health expertise (e.g., school counselor, school psychologist); individuals with social, emotional, behavioral (SEB) expertise (e.g., school counselor, social worker); individuals with special education expertise; individuals focused on student health and wellness (e.g., school nurse); and school safety specialists (e.g., school resource officer).

A primary objective of the multidisciplinary team is to identify relevant interventions and resources which can be leveraged to support the student and manage any risk of harm.

STEP 1: ESTABLISH A MULTIDISCIPLINARY THREAT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT TEAM • Form a team representing a variety of disciplines within the school community including at least:

„ Teachers (general and special educators) „ Administrators „ Individuals with social, emotional, behavioral (SEB) expertise (e.g., counselor, social worker) „ Individuals with mental health expertise (e.g., school psychologist, social worker) „ School safety specialists (e.g., school resource officer, local law enforcement liaison)

Local education agencies can structure the team to best meet the local needs and available resources through school-based teams, a central district-based team, or a combination of both.

Teams meet whenever concerning behavior or situations are brought to their attention. They also meet regularly to discuss implementation, continue learning and refining best practices, and continue monitoring the progress of students who are being supported.

A representative leadership team guides PBIS implementation. These teams are organized across the tiers of support and are representative of the school and community. This ensures a range of expertise and experiences are considered in implementation and data-informed decision-making at the school and district levels.

Effective teams develop clear communication systems, roles, and operating procedures to ensure all team members are fully included in decision-making processes.

Each also focuses on proactive and preventative supports and utilizes multidisciplinary teams to identify students in need, assess their behaviors in context, and provide appropriate interventions and supports.

Responsibility for student safety, preventions, and supports may be shared across multiple school teams (e.g., school safety teams, MTSS/PBIS, student/teacher assistance teams, BTAM).

School leadership should determine how teams will address, support, and align aspects such as school safety and climate; clarify goals and roles to avoid duplication; and efficiently attend to matters of prevention, safety, and student support needs.

Teaming is essential for implementing BTAM and multi-tiered frameworks such as PBIS (Eber et al., 2019).

In PBIS, the leadership team guides implementation, monitors effectiveness, and provides continuity across contexts (Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, 2023).

Similarly, a school’s BTAM team guides implementation by receiving reports about concerning behaviors and situations, gathering additional information, assessing the risk of harm posed and to whom, and developing intervention and management strategies to reduce risk.

Both MTSS/PBIS and BTAM emphasize the multidisciplinary representation of skill sets among team members to ensure that varying points of view are represented and that access to information and resources is broad (see Table 1).

A multidisciplinary team including, but not limited to, representation from: | A multidisciplinary team including, but not limited to, representation from: • General education | • General education • Special education | • Special education • Administration | • Administration • Individuals with SEB expertise (e.g., school counselors, school psychologists) | • Individuals with SEB expertise (e.g., school counselors, school psychologists) • Individuals with mental health expertise | • Individuals with coaching and training expertise • School nurses or health room coordinators | • Members from underserved groups • School safety specialists (e.g., school resource officer) | • Family and student representation • Community partners • Community partners

INTEGRATED REPRESENTATION | INTEGRATED REPRESENTATION • Individuals with detailed knowledge about the school’s current MTSS/PBIS initiative | • Individuals with detailed knowledge about the school’s current BTAM initiative

One promising approach for aligning BTAM and MTSS/PBIS is to expand team membership for both by integrating membership across the teams and then defining roles and expectations for collaboration.

Adding partners across teams can provide an expanded view of the two frameworks, the practices implemented to support students to better outcomes, and the data available to inform support strategies.

For example, integrating a member of the PBIS leadership team onto the BTAM team can help provide a greater level of awareness of the available behavioral data and the full menu of universal (Tier 1), targeted (Tier 2), and intensive (Tier 3) supports available to layer and match to student needs during the behavioral threat assessment and management process.

As well, integrating a member of the BTAM team onto the PBIS leadership team can help promote early identification of concerning and/or threatening behaviors and early intervention.

Clearly defined teaming procedures can support efficient and effective team functioning and decision-making and are particularly important when dealing with stressful high-pressure situations.

For more information on effective teaming, see Enhancing Team Functioning in Schools’ Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (Splett et al., 2023)

A school is implementing BTAM and MTSS/PBIS and wants to ensure that both teams are actively aligned in their shared missions of prevention and support. The school’s administration works collaboratively with the leaders of the BTAM team, the MTSS/PBIS Tier 1 team, and the MTSS/PBIS Tier 2 and 3 combined team to review each team’s composition and identify opportunities for crossover membership.

Having BTAM representation present at the Tier 1 team meetings helps to enhance awareness of additional support systems and interventions for students with intensive needs.

Likewise, having BTAM representation and expertise present at the Tier 2 and 3 combined team meetings helps to build capacity for early identification and early intervention for students in distress or who may be displaying concerning and/or threatening behavior.

Similarly, having MTSS/PBIS representation present at the BTAM team meetings helps to enhance knowledge and expertise in the school’s larger SEB support framework and leverage existing school resources for students receiving individualized management and support plans or individualized safety plans (e.g., BTAM interventions explicitly linked to existing Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 supports).

A district has an established leadership team focused on current initiatives regarding the prevention of unwanted outcomes and which addresses matters regarding school climate, school safety, and students’ SEB well-being.

The district’s BTAM coordinator is an active member of the team to enhance awareness and connection to the work of the school-based BTAM teams across the district.

The district’s MTSS/PBIS coordinator is an active member of the team to provide knowledge about current SEB programming across the district and campus-level efforts to enhance school climate.

Having the district’s BTAM coordinator and MTSS/PBIS coordinator both serve on this leadership team helps build capacity to identify natural points of alignment and opportunities to work in conjunction.

Multidisciplinary team with integrated membership and expertise (i.e., BTAM and MTSS/PBIS representation)

Clearly defined team processes for meetings, decision-making, and action planning

The BTAM team must include one or more individual(s) with knowledge of federal and state special education laws and regulations, even if the referred student is not currently identified as having a disability.

This individual can help the team understand procedural requirements (e.g., relevant timelines, evaluation procedures) and substantive requirements (e.g., when to convene the entire IEP team, interpretation of previous evaluations, the applicability of change of placement determinations). This expertise can help protect against over-referral to special education and ensure appropriate protections are in place throughout the BTAM process.

Members of the BTAM team, including any formal and regular team members not employed by the district, are generally considered part of this exception meaning they may be able to access the student’s records.

Ensuring that the BTAM team includes individuals with expertise in interpreting relevant special education evaluations, specifically those working closely with the student, should inform BTAM team determinations.

How should team membership be adjusted to enhance awareness and expertise across teams?