Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)

Introduction

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is a district-wide multi-tiered system of support in the general education setting designed to provide targeted scaffolding and support to scholars who need to accelerate their learning to achieve grade-level mastery of concepts and skills. The MTSS process is a proactive framework designed to improve overall success by using data-based progress monitoring to develop and implement an evidence-based intervention plan that addresses the scholar’s individual needs. The goal of the MTSS process is to accelerate scholar growth by targeting instruction to the scholar’s areas of need so as to prevent long-term academic or behavioral challenges. 

Why do we need MTSS?

The MTSS process provides us with a research-based process to determine why a scholar is facing challenges in school. Sometimes scholars have needs we are not aware of at the beginning of the year. These needs could be linguistic, behavioral, academic, social and/or emotional. By participating in the MTSS process, we proactively work to determine each scholar’s needs based on the data we collect and target our support to address them so each scholar is given the opportunity to succeed.

What does the data tell us?

There is a saying: “data doesn’t lie”. However, data does not always tell the truth you think it is telling. Data helps to tell a story, but in order for us to learn that story, we must be willing to analyze that data to better understand it. For example, a scholar’s data may show that they cannot read on grade level. If we look only at the score, that may be all we learn. If, however, we work as a team to look deeper into the data, we may find that the scholar cannot read on grade level because they never received quality Tier 1 instruction on phonemic awareness, they are struggling with translanguaging between their home and instructional languages, they are dyslexic, or a variety of other possibilities! See how the story changes as we learn more about the scholar? Data is not about thinking of scholars as numbers, but rather about helping to tell the story that will lead us to providing them with the support they need to be successful.