You see the need for an MTSS platform to streamline and support your work with students, but how do you bring others on board, especially when you’re not “the boss?” First, don’t discount your influence with the decision-makers in your school district! As someone directly involved in providing instruction and intervention for struggling students, your perspective and experience can be a compelling agent for change, but only if you speak up and carefully make your case.
Based on an analysis of Spring 2023 Map Growth assessment data, the NWEA Research Policy Brief* revealed that achievement gains in the 2022–23 academic year fell short of pre-pandemic trends across most grades, hampering progress toward pandemic recovery. Significant achievement gaps persist, with the average student needing 4.1 additional months of schooling in reading and 4.5 months in math to catch up.
Resource shortages have long been at the forefront of the educational paradox of how to maximize student achievement and well-being while staying within the boundaries of school budgets. With the current context of teacher shortages and a need for holistic student support, it is a pertinent issue needing resolution for many of you, our educational leaders. So, what if there was a strategy to identify student needs, assess curriculum and resources transparently, and boost student achievement? There is, and it is called MTSS!
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Supporting English Learners Within MTSS
“[MTSS] offers a way to look at the whole child. MTSS says we're looking at the social emotional learning of the students, how their language and cultural considerations are impacting accessing the curriculum. We're looking at math and literacy and looking how all these things kind of integrate together to create the most effective and more high quality instruction or experience for the student.”
– Dr. Claudia Rinaldi in the webinar "Supporting Engish Language Learners Within MTSS"
In the dynamic world of education, certain terms come and go. Among them, "collaboration" could be brushed off as just another buzzword. However, effective collaboration is a fundamental practice in MTSS that drives student achievement and fosters a sense of community for staff. By cultivating a culture of effective teamwork, we create an environment where everyone works together with a common goal: to ensure student success. We’ve compiled our top five practical tips for effective team collaboration, showcasing how MTSS team best practices (with support from Branching Minds!) can significantly benefit educators and students.
Attendance is crucial for student success—after all, they can’t learn if they’re not there. During and after the pandemic, attendance issues have surged, with about 26% of public school students considered chronically absent in 2022-2023, up from 15% pre-pandemic. There’s also been a rise in school refusals linked to mental health struggles.
Time is our most precious resource in education. Ask any administrator or teacher, and the desire for more time is likely at the top of their list! Because time is so valuable, it is critical that we make the most of professional learning related to MTSS. Educators are picky about professional learning, and rightly so. They want the time invested in learning about MTSS to have a direct impact on their work and on student outcomes. That is what school leaders want, too.
Note: This blog was originally published in March 2021 and has since been updated.
Why Is Capacity Building So Critical for MTSS?
School leaders, I’d like to circle back with you to think about how you are developing your staff across your school and/or district. A couple of years ago, in this blog on building capacity, I shared the “who, how, and why we don’t” of leaders intentionally building capacity for leadership, sharing their talents and experience more broadly…in essence bringing all you can so that all of your staff and students benefit from every ounce of “know-how” possible!
Reading difficulty has an outsized effect on a student's ability to be successful in school and in life. Dyslexia is defined as “a brain-based learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to read.” (Stanley & Petscher, 2017) Reading ability can also be impacted by the “lack of education opportunity and appropriate literacy instruction.” (Dundas, 2023) Fortunately, research suggests that early identification and intervention for dyslexia prevents further difficulty for the student. In fact, most states now have dyslexia legislation requiring reading training for teachers and support for struggling students, according to the National Center for Improving Literacy.