MTSS

MTSS/RTI – What You Need to Know

Implementing and sustaining MTSS necessitates rethinking how we go about business in schools. To be sustained, MTSS must become a school-wide responsibility and support structure for both teachers and students alike. This requires:

1. Developing a blueprint for getting started and a way to get staff members on board.

2. Information and support on how to manage the logistics of a school-wide approach to MTSS (e.g., how to effectively group students, stagger reading blocks and coordinate both small and whole group instruction).

3. Re-thinking how resources and instructional staff are assigned to maximize supports for all students.

4. Spending less time and energy engaged in testing and determining eligibility for special education; devoting the time to realizing outcomes.

5. Focusing on a single goal as the measure of success: student academic achievement. Attainment of this goal allows success in all other areas.

6. Visionary instructional leadership with a “gentle pressure applied relentlessly” attitude.

7. Training and support for teachers—most resistance is driven by not knowing how.

8. Understanding how to use the right data for instructional decision-making.

9. Evaluating effectiveness of systems and instructional groups rather than focusing on individual students.

10. Establishing grade-level problem-solving teams responsible for data analysis and problem solving.

• How to Avoid the Most Common Pitfalls of MTSS

• Progress Monitoring

• School-Wide Approach to MTSS

• Research-Based Interventions

• Effective Instructional Practices

• Evaluating Effective Systems

• Beyond the “One-Student-at-a-Time” Mentality

• Differentiated Instruction

• Focus Monitoring

• Problem-Solving Structures

• Beyond RTI

• RTI for Special Education

• Goal of Professional Development

• IEP Placement