When I think of the word "culture," I equate it with traditions and success that live on forever through generations, celebrated, embodied, embraced, and most definitely something to be proud of. A standard definition of "cultured" is to be characterized by refined taste, manners, and good education.

Throughout my work as a teacher and then for years in educational technology, eventually, as the Vice President of Customer Success in the education division for a Fortune 500 education company, I lived and breathed education pilots and implementations for many years. I would find myself debriefing with my colleagues daily, discussing how we could improve pilots and implementations around the country. During these years, I trained my team, primarily comprised of former classroom teachers, to look deeply at each district’s and school’s protocols utilized during implementation. 

As administrators and educational leaders, our intention is always to create and carry out well-developed goals for the upcoming year. We don’t just want to provide opportunities for our staff; we want to engage them, support them, and challenge them while still focusing on equity and accountability. 

Meeting (meet·​ing | \ ˈmē-tiŋ): An act or process of coming together, first used in the 14th century. (Merriam-Webster,n.d.)

School is just around the corner and planning for next year has already started. This year, your school may be introducing a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) to better support all students. If you’re unfamiliar with MTSS, this new framework can at first appear daunting. 

The internet is full of digital tools, software, and programs specifically designed to support student learning. A quick Google search for a reading program will supply hundreds of links to programs promising “fast results” and “academic success.”

What Does Tutoring Have To Do With MTSS?

There are many important components to a successful implementation of an MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) framework. All of the components rely on and inform one another (to see a visual of how MTSS is a framework, check out this MTSS flowchart).

When developing strategies to improve academics and social-emotional learning, it’s easy to get stuck focusing on only the curriculum, lessons, and approaches we use with individuals or groups of students. Sometimes, it can be beneficial to take a step back and think about the context and environment in which students are learning and how those can be improved.

Branching Minds (BRM) is honored to have a guest post from Marie Stapleton, Lead Title Teacher at Painesville City Local Schools (PCLS) in Ohio. We began our partnership with PCLS in April 2019, and in this experience spotlight, Ms. Stapleton shares her experience using the BRM platform and reflects on how utilizing an MTSS technology has supported both students and teachers in her school. Special thanks to Marie Stapleton for sharing her valued perspective with us. 💙

“The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive, school improvement is building the capacity of school personnel to function as a school community.” - Milbrey McLaughlin

I spent 10 years as a principal and Chief Academic Officer for a K-12 school network. Over that time, I implemented dozens of new initiatives for my schools, all aimed at improving the outcomes for our students.