How Can My District Find MTSS Funding?

As school districts across the country are devoting more and more resources to implementing high-quality Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) practices, many district personnel are trying to figure out where the money will come from to fund such initiatives. While some funds may be available for school districts to improve their MTSS practices, many funding sources are available for school districts to implement specific components of MTSS—either across the school/district or specifically for specific targeted populations of students.  

As MTSS is a long-term practice, federal funding remains the most sustained source of funding for school and district programs. State formula funding is variable and subject to state education budgets, while state competitive grants are often funded annually but will require districts to file grant applications for each cycle. Districts may have to look to several grant sources and combine them to fund MTSS..

What Federal Funding Streams Can Be Used for MTSS?

Multiple federal funding sources are available for school districts to use for MTSS. For example, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides federal funding to state education agencies and local school districts. However, most federal education funds target specific populations, such as students from low-income families and/or neighborhoods, migratory children and youth, English language learners, and students receiving special education services. Other funds are available more broadly for school districts to provide professional learning in MTSS, support social-emotional learning, and supplemental funds for rural school districts.

➡️ Related resource: Federal Funding for MTSS

Professional Learning in MTSS

Ensuring an effective MTSS practice often requires high-quality professional learning for teachers, interventionists, paraprofessionals, and school and district administrators. Title II, Part A funds can be used to help schools and districts provide training and coaching on any of the following MTSS-related topics:

• Delivering effective differentiated instruction at all tiers
• Delivering targeted small group intervention for students receiving Tier 2 support
• Delivering intensive intervention for students receiving Tier 3 support
• Making data-based decisions as to when and how to provide support for students
• Conducting MTSS and family-engagement meetings

➡️ Related resource: How to Plan MTSS Professional Learning Throughout the Year

Supporting Students’ Social-Emotional Needs

Title IV, Part A provides funds that can be used in various ways to support MTSS—specifically around school climate factors such as behavioral and social-emotional learning (SEL) skills. These funds can be used for behavior/SEL activities across a school or district or a specific group of students. For example, these funds could be used to purchase an SEL screener to identify students in need of small-group or individual support in SEL skills, provide SEL interventions to students identified through screening, or hire staff or contract with outside agencies to provide support for students receiving small group or individual Tier 2 or Tier 3 SEL support.

➡️ Related resource: Guide to Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Universal Screening

Supporting Rural School Districts

Title V, Part B provides additional funding for rural school districts to use in various and flexible ways. This flexibility allows districts designated as rural school districts to use these funds toward MTSS-related services and activities, such as screening, progress monitoring, professional learning, interventions, and MTSS management.

Blending and Braiding Federal Funds for Targeted Student Populations

Blending involves moving funds from one title fund into another – typically mixing with Title I – where spending must follow the rules governing the absorbing fund. Braiding is a weaving of funds together to cover expenses across many disparate groups. With braiding, however, each fund must retain and follow its own funding rules.

• Students from Low-Income Families and/or Communities (Title I, Part A): These funds are used for improving the academic achievement of those students who are economically disadvantaged. Title I is one of the largest sources of federal education funding. These funds can be used for some or all of the components of implementing an MTSS practice—particularly for supporting students receiving Tier 2 and Tier 3 support. Some examples of how a school district can use these funds toward MTSS include hiring and paying for intervention teachers (including salary and benefits), providing small group interventions for students reading below grade level, and purchasing supplementary and intervention materials in specific content areas (math, literacy, SEL learning, and behavior).
• Migratory Children and Youth (Title I, Part C): These funds are used for the education of migratory children. Therefore, any MTSS-related expenses from this source must be explicitly used for this population of students. These funds can be used to select students in this population to participate in Tier 2 or Tier 3 activities—such as a summer school program.
• English Language Learners (Title III, Part A): Supporting English language learners in an MTSS framework can create unique challenges requiring special support and services. While Title III, Part A funds can be used to support the implementation of MTSS, the funds must be used specifically for English learners (EL) and/or immigrant students only. These funds can be used towards professional learning for classroom teachers and interventionists for delivering effective intervention and differentiated instruction for EL students, purchasing instructional materials designed to support EL students, or providing extended instructional time for EL students.
• Students with IEPs (IDEA, Part B): The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that governs education for students with disabilities. Funds from IDEA are generally targeted exclusively for students with IEPs, so any support—whether Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3—that is expressly documented in an IEP can be supported by federal IDEA funds. In addition, IDEA, Part B funds can be used for a Coordinated Early Intervention Services (CEIS) program—particularly for students in grades K-3 who have not yet received an IEP but require additional academic and behavioral support in a traditional classroom environment.

Are There State Funding Streams That Are Also Available for MTSS?

Many states provide funding opportunities—either by formula or grants—to individual schools and/or districts toward MTSS-related services and activities. For example, the Stronger Connections Grants, made available to states through Title IV, Part A, support state-level initiatives for MTSS, wellness, and/or school safety. Other state grants for MTSS include but are not limited to California’s Scaling Up MTSS (SUMS) program, Massachusetts’ grant for Supporting Students' Social Emotional Learning, Behavioral & Mental Health, and Wellness, Michigan’s 31a grant for student mental health and wellness, and Minnesota’s MTSS and Closing Opportunities grants.

Additional Help

For more information on how you can find funding for the use of Branching Minds or other MTSS-related activities, send an email to funding@branchingminds.com.

Let us help you build the right team! Branching Minds offers a variety of professional learning opportunities for states, districts, and schools to ensure instructional leaders, specialists, coaches, and teachers are able to implement RTI/MTSS as well as the BRM platform with fidelity and maximizes educators’ efforts to accelerate learning for all students.