Treatment Integrity of Primary (Tier 1) Prevention Efforts in Tiered Systems: Mapping the Literature

Treatment integrity is an important component of rigorous educational research. Information about the extent to which an intervention was implemented as planned provides necessary context for interpreting student outcomes. In the context of increasing use of tiered systems in schools, treatment integrity takes on additional practical importance. Tiered systems involve educators evaluating student responsiveness to primary (Tier 1) prevention to determine whether more intensive secondary (Tier 2) or tertiary (Tier 3) interventions are necessary. To ensure validity of these decisions, treatment integrity data are needed to establish whether students had access to Tier 1 implemented with integrity. In this map of the literature, we systematically identified studies of primary prevention components in the context of tiered systems to determine the extent to which treatment integrity was monitored and reported. Additionally, we examined methods used to monitor treatment integrity, the frequency with which monitoring occurred, and at what level monitoring occurred (i.e., at the individual or school level). We discuss implications of findings on measurement and use of these data in tiered systems.