Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)

Summary

The script discusses Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) in education, emphasizing a holistic approach to student needs. It includes practices like RTI, positive behavior supports, and universal design for learning. The focus is on collaboration between parents, teachers, and professionals to provide targeted interventions at three levels, ensuring every child receives necessary support without leading to special education. MTSS aims to improve student achievement, reduce referrals, and enhance instructional efficiency through proactive and preventative strategies.

Takeaways

• 🏫 Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is an inclusive educational framework that encompasses various practices like RTI, PBIS, UDL, and social-emotional curriculum.
• 🤝 MTSS requires collaboration among educators, parents, and students to identify and meet the diverse needs of students effectively.
• 👪 Parents play a crucial role in MTSS as they know their children best and contribute to the understanding of their needs.
• 👩‍🏫 Classroom teachers are key in MTSS, working directly with students and providing insights into their academic and behavioral needs.
• 🔍 The approach of MTSS is to consider the 'whole child,' addressing both academic and social-emotional needs for a comprehensive support system.
• 📚 Tier one of MTSS provides universal supports with evidence-based curriculum and strong instructional practices for all students.
• 🔢 Tiers two and three offer additional targeted supports for students with specific skill deficits, with the level of intervention varying from child to child.
• 🤔 MTSS involves a fluid and dynamic process of identifying student needs and adjusting instructional minutes to provide appropriate support.
• 👥 There is a support system behind the scenes with various teams across the district working together to brainstorm and collaborate on student support.
• 🚫 MTSS is not a pathway to special education; it aims to be preventative and proactive in addressing student needs without the necessity of failure.
• 📉 Successful implementation of MTSS leads to increased student achievement, reduced referrals to special education, and lowered discipline and dropout rates.
• 🛠️ It takes a coordinated team of professionals, resources, curriculum, and tools to support teachers in providing targeted interventions for students.

Q & A

What does MTSS stand for and what does it encompass in education?

MTSS stands for Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. It encompasses various practices in education such as response to intervention (RTI), positive behavior intervention supports, universal design for learning, and social emotional curriculum.

How does MTSS involve parents in the educational process?

MTSS involves parents by recognizing that they know their children best and by collaborating with them to brainstorm what the student needs and how to meet those needs, as well as gathering pertinent information to ensure those needs are met.

What is the role of classroom teachers in the MTSS framework?

Classroom teachers are on the front lines working with the students every day. They play a crucial role in collaboration to determine the student's needs and in implementing the appropriate interventions within the MTSS framework.

How does MTSS approach the concept of 'the whole child'?

MTSS looks at the whole child by not only focusing on academic needs but also considering the student's social-emotional needs and behavioral challenges, recognizing that unmet needs in these areas can impact a student's readiness to learn.

What are the three tiers of support in MTSS and what do they provide?

The three tiers of MTSS are: Tier one, which provides universal supports and strong evidence-based curriculum for all students; Tier two, which offers additional targeted instructional minutes for students with specific skill deficits; and Tier three, which provides more intensive support for students requiring even more assistance.

Why is collaboration important in the implementation of MTSS?

Collaboration is important in MTSS to brainstorm and gather all relevant information, ensuring that the student's needs are identified and met effectively. It involves various teams and professionals working together to diagnose, prescribe, and implement appropriate interventions.

How does MTSS differ from the traditional RTI model that focused mainly on academics?

MTSS differs from the traditional RTI model by incorporating a more holistic approach that addresses not only academic needs but also social-emotional and behavioral needs, recognizing the impact of these areas on a student's ability to learn.

What are the benefits of implementing MTSS in schools?

Implementing MTSS can lead to increased student achievement, more efficient use of instructional time, reduced referrals to special education and discipline, and lower dropout rates, as it targets supports to meet the specific needs of students.

Is MTSS a pathway to special education for students who struggle?

No, MTSS is not a pathway to special education. It is designed to be preventative and proactive, ensuring that students receive the support they need without having to fail first.

How does MTSS ensure that all students receive the support they need?

MTSS ensures support for all students by providing a tiered system of interventions that can be adjusted based on individual needs. It involves collaboration among various teams and professionals to diagnose and provide targeted supports.

What kind of professional team is involved in supporting teachers under the MTSS framework?

A team of professionals, including but not limited to classroom teachers, special education specialists, counselors, and administrators, work together to support teachers in implementing MTSS and providing the necessary resources, curriculum, and tools.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Overview

This paragraph introduces the concept of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) as a comprehensive educational approach that includes various practices like RTI, positive behavior interventions, universal design for learning, and social-emotional curriculum. It emphasizes the importance of collaboration among parents, teachers, and other stakeholders to identify and meet the diverse needs of students, including academic, social, and emotional aspects. The paragraph also clarifies that MTSS is not a pathway to special education but a preventative and proactive strategy to enhance student achievement and reduce referrals and dropout rates.

Keywords

💡Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS)

MTSS is an educational framework that provides varying levels of support based on student needs. It's the overarching theme of the video, encompassing practices like RTI and universal design for learning. The script mentions MTSS as a collaborative approach involving parents, teachers, and various school teams to ensure students receive the necessary support to succeed academically and socially-emotionally.

💡Response to Intervention (RTI)

RTI is a component of MTSS that focuses on early identification and intervention for students who are struggling. In the script, RTI is discussed as having traditionally concentrated on academic needs, but now it is recognized as part of a broader approach that includes social-emotional and behavioral support.

💡Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS)

PBIS is a proactive approach within the MTSS framework that aims to define and teach expected behaviors to all students. The script highlights PBIS as part of the comprehensive practices under MTSS, emphasizing the importance of addressing not only academic performance but also behavior to create a conducive learning environment.

💡Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

UDL is a set of principles for curriculum development that gives all students equal opportunities to learn. The script refers to UDL as one of the practices under MTSS, indicating its role in ensuring inclusive education by designing instruction that can accommodate the variability in student needs.

💡Social-Emotional Curriculum

This refers to educational programs that focus on developing students' emotional intelligence and social skills. In the script, the social-emotional curriculum is mentioned as an integral part of MTSS, underlining the importance of addressing students' emotional well-being alongside their academic progress.

💡Collaboration

Collaboration in the context of the script means working together among various stakeholders to meet student needs. It is a key process in MTSS, where parents, teachers, and school staff brainstorm and gather information to provide appropriate support for students, as illustrated by the script's emphasis on teamwork and collective effort.

💡Tiered Support

The tiered support system within MTSS categorizes students into different levels based on the intensity of support they require. The script explains that tier one is universal support for all students, while tiers two and three offer additional, targeted interventions for students with specific needs.

💡Instructional Minutes

Instructional minutes refer to the time dedicated to teaching and learning activities. The script discusses the challenge of finding and allocating these minutes for targeted supports in tier two and three, emphasizing the need for careful planning to ensure that additional help is provided where it's most needed.

💡Special Education

Special education provides tailored instruction for students with disabilities or special needs. The script clarifies that MTSS is not a pathway to special education but rather a preventative and proactive approach to support students before they reach the point of needing special education services.

💡Discipline Referrals

Discipline referrals are instances where students are reported or sent to authorities for violating school rules. The script mentions a decrease in discipline referrals as one of the positive outcomes of implementing MTSS, suggesting that a supportive educational environment can reduce behavioral issues.

💡Student Achievement

Student achievement refers to the educational progress and success of students. The script highlights an increase in student achievement as a benefit of MTSS, indicating that the system's targeted and comprehensive approach contributes to better learning outcomes for all students.

Highlights

Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) encompass a variety of educational practices, including response to intervention (RTI), positive behavior intervention supports, universal design for learning, and social emotional curriculum.

MTSS requires collaboration among parents, classroom teachers, and other professionals to gather information and determine student needs.

Targeted supports under MTSS consider the whole child, including academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs.

Chandler's work focuses on providing resources, curriculum, and training to teachers to empower them to diagnose and prescribe appropriate interventions.

MTSS has three tiers of support, with tier one providing universal evidence-based curriculum and strong instructional practices for all students.

Tiers two and three offer additional instructional minutes and targeted support for students with specific skill deficits.

The amount of instruction or intervention needed varies from child to child and can be fluid based on individual needs.

Various teams across the district collaborate to brainstorm and determine the best course of action for each student.

Finding instructional minutes for targeted supports can be challenging and requires collaboration and creative scheduling.

The goal is to identify student needs and provide targeted supports to meet those needs effectively.

MTSS is not a road to special education, contrary to a common misconception; it aims to be preventative and proactive.

Proper implementation of MTSS leads to increased student achievement, maximized instructional minutes, and decreased referrals to special education and discipline.

A team of professionals is essential to support teachers in providing the necessary resources, curriculum, and tools for student success.

All students receive support through MTSS, emphasizing its inclusive nature and applicability to every child.

MTSS aims to work together and support one another, ensuring teachers have the necessary support to help students thrive.

The transcript highlights the importance of collaboration, resources, and a holistic approach to student support within the MTSS framework.

Transcripts

Multi-tiered systems of support or MTSS really encompasses a lot of

practices that we've had in education for a long, long time.

So it involves response to intervention or RTI,

our positive behavior intervention supports, universal design for learning

our social emotional curriculum. We have to involve our parents

they know their kids best, our classroom teachers are on the front lines working

with those kids every day and it really requires collaboration not

only to brainstorm what the student needs and how to meet

that need but also to gather all of the information that's pertinent

to making sure that we're getting those needs met.

All those pieces fit under the umbrella of

MTSS. When we look at targeted supports we're really looking at the whole child

previously with RTI we talked mostly about academics

but we need to also look at the social- emotional needs and behavioral

challenges that a student might have because if there are social emotional

needs and behavioral needs that are not being met they're not going to come

ready to learn and that's going to impact academics.

And so in Chandler our work is to make sure that

we have the resources and curriculum, that our teachers are trained and

supported and that everyone feels empowered

to diagnose and prescribe the appropriate intervention and MTSS really

is for every kid. There are three tiers tier one

is our universal supports, our strong evidence-based

curriculum and our strong instructional practices from excellent teachers and

that is something that every kid is getting in tier one

but some of our students need more. And so tier two and tier 3 supports

come in when students need instructional minutes

added that are targeted on specific skills that we've identified as being

deficits for them. And so how much instruction or

intervention they need varies from child to child and can

really be very fluid. We have support from lots of people

behind the scenes, we have all kinds of people working in

the school to help brainstorm and collaborate. We have a lot

of different teams set up across the district

that will look at a child and who is on those teams can vary depending on what

we need to talk about for the student. It's not easy

to find the instructional minutes to add for those targeted supports.

We have to come together and collaborate and say how do we schedule this

how do we make it work for kids, how do we make it work for teachers

and what it really is all about is identifying what our students need

and providing them with those targeted supports to meet those needs.

Sometimes we get students who come in with a lot of gaps,

MTSS is not a road to special education that's a common misconception but we

never want kids to have to fail in order to get the

support that they need we want to be preventative and proactive.

When MTSS is implemented we see an increase in student achievement

and increase in how we're maximizing our instructional minutes in the classroom

and we see decreases in referrals to special education,

discipline referrals our dropout rates go down,

everything gets better when we are targeting supports for our students.

And so we have to work together and support one another

support our teachers and make sure that everyone has

the resources with people and curriculum and tools and it takes a

team of a lot of professionals to come together

and make sure that we're supporting teachers so they can support kids.

All students receive support through MTSS and MTSS really is for every kid.