Cumberland County Schools has been awarded a SWIFT grant to support and deepen our implementation of equity practices and the multi-tiered system of support. Three school districts across the nation and 70 schools have been selected to participate in this research study. Our district is one of those districts and has been granted funding for 22 schools to take part in Cohort 1 and 2. Cohort 1 began participation in the spring of 2019. Cohort 2 was slated to begin participation next year, 2020-2021. However, with the pandemic, the terms of the research study changed. Since 2019, a District Team of administrative leaders from Academic Services and Student Support Services have worked to design and implement a far-reaching, effective, and sustainable equity-based MTSS. Starting this year, 2021, all school principals and their school teams will receive training, and Cohorts 1 and 2 have been combined into one group and will receive coaching from SWIFT and UNCG coaches/mentors.

The goal of this study is to enhance instructional leadership and support dynamic learning environments. Based on a randomized sampling, the twenty-two subject schools were selected to participate. All schools selected for this study were chosen based on established criteria set by SWIFT and CCS. The SWIFT Education team will provide equity training and equity coaching focused on MTSS (Multi-Tiered Support System) to your leadership team. (A Multi-Tiered Support System integrates academics, behavior, and social-emotional learning for all students.)

The grant provides all participant schools:

• SWIFT Fidelity of Implementation Tool or SWIFT-FIT
• Training of the District Leadership Team
• Training and coaching of the District Implementation Team
• Training for school leaders and their school teams
• Job-embedded coaching for the 22 cohort schools to assist schools leaders with the implementation of MTSS
  
  

SWIFT Equity MTSS Cohorts I & II

Equity MTSS District Leadership Team

Equity-Based MTSS District Implementation Team