“We All Can Learn from One Another”: Student, Caregiver, and Educator Perspectives to Strengthen Culturally Responsive Practice Within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior (MTSS-b)

School psychologists’ understanding of culturally responsive practice in schools has evolved over the past several decades. Relevant research has centered instructional practices and behavioral supports, the latter of which have often been situated within an ecological-behavioral framework, specifically multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). Despite increased research on culturally responsive practice, few studies have solicited perspectives from students, caregivers, and educators to strengthen our understanding of how culturally responsive approaches can be applied within MTSS. This study presents findings from focus groups with 19 student, caregiver, and educator participants who described their conceptualizations of culturally responsive practice, resulting in 11 themes that emphasized the importance of valuing students’ and families’ identities, building trusting and collaborative relationships, as well as promoting strong systems of support. A model integrating culturally responsive approaches with an ecological-behavioral model and relational systems theory is presented. It is explored with implications for school-based practice and future research. Impact Statement Focus groups soliciting student, caregiver and educators’ perspectives resulted in 11 themes to strengthen MTSS-b as an ecological-behavioral framework integrating both culturally responsive practice and relational systems theory. Future research is needed to evaluate the application of these themes, with a specific emphasis on their impact on the experiences and outcomes of youth with marginalized identities.