ABSTRACT
School-based, problem solving teams (PSTs) have been in place since the late 1970s (Inverson, 2002). PSTs tend to share many commonalities including makeup, processes, and desired outcome. PSTs are a group of educational or psycho-educational service providers working collaboratively through a problem-solving process to address an identified problem facing a student or students in the school setting. Though the specific steps in the PST processes may differ, generally PSTs identify a problem, identify possible interventions, implement an intervention, and evaluate the effects (Deno, 2002). An example of how PSTs have evolved can be found in the recent shift within education to an emphasis on prevention, early intervention, and data-based decision-making that has resulted in wide-spread adoption of Response to Intervention (RTI) or multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) models of service delivery in schools (Dowd-Eagle and Eagle, 2014). This shift away from a focus on diagnosis and special education placement to intervention planning with the goal of maintaining students in the general education curriculum to the greatest extent possible has led to advances in PST models. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the roles, functions, and processes of effective PSTs within an RTI/MTSS framework.
