In my decade in the classroom, I worked with several co-teachers. Some were special education teachers, some para-educators, ELL teachers, and even gifted and talented teachers. Each year, the co-teaching relationship worked differently. And yes, some were more successful than others. But when we had planning time and appropriate facilitation, co-teaching benefited not only the students who required extra support but all the students in my classes.
How do you get the most impact out of your MTSS efforts? Impact and effort are often competing realities, so it can be a challenge to know how to strategically approach the work. An Impact-Effort Map is a tool you can use to visualize and prioritize tasks when launching your MTSS practice or with any initiative. It's a two-dimensional matrix where impact is plotted against effort in order to identify which tasks should be done now, done later, or delegated.
Just as a pilot uses their dashboard, a farmer measures rainwater, or a nurse checks vitals, data in MTSS is a tool meant to be used for more than determining final success or failure. Data is a helpful guide in real time. Progress monitoring data provides educators with the insight they need to adjust course throughout the year and make the best use of their valuable time and resources to support students. And, school leaders play a crucial role in guiding staff with data analysis.
During a parent-teacher conference, as I was explaining a child's assessment scores and grades, the parent interrupted me in confusion. “I don’t understand. They have an A in your class but can barely write a sentence, and their reading score isn’t that high.” As a young teacher, I stumbled through my answer, realizing that the way that we weighted grades meant that the work that students did in class was graded based on completion and re-takes. These grades often did not align with the results of the standardized assessments we gave. I knew at that moment that my grade book needed a revamp to reflect mastering the standards for the grade level.
Are you a millennial holding tight to your skinny jeans, not quite ready to embrace the new trends? Or maybe you are on the opposite side of the spectrum, grabbing tape to try The Ceiling Challenge for yourself! A quick social media scroll will show that new trends and old classics are popping up daily, and K-12 education is no exception. Take a look at our list of MTSS “Ins” and “Outs” for 2024!
At the beginning of the school year, we strategize, collect data, and form our playbook. We work with the teams at our schools to make sure we’re ready to take on any challenge. We prepare and train through high-quality professional development and effective meetings. Once the game of the school year starts, though, we can find that we’re encountering unexpected challenges, and they can start to wear down on us as the year progresses. You may find this is how you’re feeling as we approach midyear.
A well-functioning Early Warning System (EWS) plays a crucial role in helping schools identify and support students at risk of school failure. By tracking key indicators such as attendance, behavior, and course performance, EWS enables schools to intervene early and prevent students from falling through the cracks. But how can schools maximize the impact of EWS to ensure student success?
In our podcast conversation, Sarah Frazelle, Senior Researcher and MTSS Trainer at AIR, shared valuable insights into the best practices for using an Early Warning System to drive equitable outcomes for all students.
“Early warning indicator systems are about that threshold that we're going to intervene at early. It is the actionable piece to have more equitable student outcomes as well. It’s not just the kids that are on our hearts and minds that we're supporting. It's also those kids who are really quiet. They show up all the time, but maybe they're not getting good grades, you know. So we really are trying to figure out why students are struggling.”
- Sarah Frazelle, Senior Researcher and MTSS Trainer at AIR
Once upon a time, I entered the classroom as a young teacher excited to impact my students' lives. I started as a middle school teacher, so I had my class syllabus, the class rules, and the outline of what we would be doing for the year, and I presented that to my students on the first day of school. I did this because it's what my own school experience was and it's what I was told to do in my teacher education program. A few years later, I had the privilege and opportunity to attend a Tribes training, now known as Peace Learning Center. The program emphasized creating engaging learning communities. This shift from control to collaboration with students not only resonated with me but also yielded remarkable results in my classrooms over the years.