Effective collaboration with families is an important strategy to enhance the implementation of data-based individualization (DBI) for students with intensive needs. Families can provide valuable information about what motivates a student, share strategies that have worked for the student in other settings, and offer feedback on the student’s strengths and challenges at home and in the community. However, few educators receive training in how to engage families and families may have had negative experiences with schools. The Dual Capacity Building Framework highlights the importance of building educators’ and families’ capacity to engage in school–family partnerships.  

In this Voices from the Field video, Nicole Bucka shares how Rhode Island has integrated the Dual Capacity Building Framework into its multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) professional learning, using MTSS Rhode Island's professional learning platform, Bridge-RI. The video highlights strategies and resources to build the capacity of educators and families to engage in effective partnerships across all tiers of support, including for students with intensive needs. National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) resources that are featured in the video include Intensive Intervention: A Practitioner's Guide for Communicating with Parents and Families and NCII’s Intensive Intervention Meeting Agenda.

Watch the video below to learn more about how Rhode Island has embedded family engagement practices into MTSS professional learning within Bridge-RI.