A model demonstration training and technical assistance center is now operational in Kansas and Illinois (called the K-I Center). This Center will bring a variety of schools with a wide range of demographics within the two States to model demonstration status to illustrate: a) how and when resources and systems are organized to ensure the success of all students in accordance with a response to intervention (RtI) logic model, and b) how individual supports and interventions for students with complex needs, particularly those students who require tertiary level Positive Behavior Support interventions, can be more effectively and efficiently provided.

To accomplish the overarching goal the Center proposes to strategically apply evidence-based interventions using a rubric that fully encompasses and integrates Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support with Wraparound, a school mental health approach developed in Illinois and replicated widely in other states. The goals of the K-I Center include: a) a rigorous but replicable professional development system integrated into districts and schools; b) a school level, data-based decision system; c) a comprehensive national dissemination process; d) a range of validated products for replication and expansion; e) a multi-tiered process that includes systematic application of person centered and family centered techniques; and f) a fully integrated evaluation system designed for easy access and use by teachers and families as well as district and state implementers.

Center resources will be strategically applied to ensure implementation of tertiary systems in demonstration sites already implementing school-wide approaches but struggling with the shift from categorical approaches into RtI logic-driven integrated systems. The K-I Center is directed by Wayne Sailor under the auspices of the University of Kansas Beach Center on Disability in partnership with Lucille Eber, Director of the Illinois PBIS Network.