MTSS: WHAT DOES IT LOOK
LIKE IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS?
Shelly Dickinson
Janet Stephenson
The Goal of Having a Multi-Tiered System
of Support in Middle School is to…
A. Identify kids who are at risk.
B. Make sure students are on track for
graduation – college and career ready.
C. Use data to find out our school’s
weaknesses and how to best use resources.
D. Help students who struggle in math and
reading.
E. All of the above
Developing a District-Wide
Early Warning System
• The best predictor of future failure is current failure and
disengagement
• Assessing risk across multiple variables allows teams to provide
early intervention and prevent disengagement from school and
course failures
– At-risk and off-track students are identified through analyzing
a combination of engagement and academic data.
• Many students experience course failures as a result of
disengagement (e.g., excessive absenteeism, lack of productivity,
inattention)
• Systematically assessing student engagement allows schools to
identify students in need of support before they have failed
courses or acquired skill deficits related to missed instruction
Middle School
Early Warning Systems
• Identify all students who miss more than 20% of the available
instructional time
and/or
• Identify students through engagement scales or behavior
indicators
• Identify all students who fail their math course
• Identify all students who fail their English course
• Flag students who display both engagement and academic
failure as high risk
Extreme Off Track
2-3 Years Behind
No chance for graduation in a
traditional school setting
Disengagement
Risk Factors:
1. Disengagement
•20% absenteeism
2. Behind in Credits
•Particularly Core
Course Failures
3. GPA less than 2.0
4. Failed FCAT
High Off Track
3 or more risk factors
Off Track
2 of 4 risk factors indicated
Students entering with 20%
absenteeism and/or 2 or more
F’s in 8th Grade
At Risk for Off Track
1 of 4 risk factors indicated
On Track
No risk factors indicated
Hendry County Schools
At-Risk Eighth Graders
• Those who attend school less than 80% of
the time (78% became drop outs)
• Those who receive a failing grade in math
and/or English (77% became drop outs)
• Did not have strong predictive power:
– Gender, race, age, test scores
Attendance: The Canary in the Coal Mine
School
More than 9 Absences – students not in
school 80% of the time
Central
9
Clearlake
4
Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr
2
DeLaura
2
Edgewood
2
Hoover
7
Jackson
7
Jefferson
4
Johnson
12
Kennedy
5
Madison
9
McNair
3
Southwest
5
Spacecoast
1
Stone
7
Westshore
0
Total
79
Of these 79
students 78 %
could potentially
become high school
drop outs.
61 drop outs.
The bottom line…
• Disengaged students are likely to be disengaged at
the next grade/school level in the absence of
prevention and intervention support
• Students with a history of academic
underachievement or failure are likely to continue to
fail without prevention and intervention support
• Addressing academic and engagement issues earlier
rather than later is more successful and more cost
effective
• Preventing disengagement and/or academic failure
is more effective than reacting to them once they
occur
Let’s Take A Look at
Russell Middle School Implementation
• Video
Integrated, Multi-Tiered
Prevention/Intervention Supports
•
It is not enough to simply identify at-risk students,
leadership teams must follow identification with effective and
appropriate intervention
•
Schools need to provide prevention supports which act to
prevent students from becoming disengaged or developing
skill deficits
•
Schools need to develop a continuum of intervention
supports which are readily accessible as soon as a student is
indicated as at-risk or off-track
•
Creating a comprehensive prevention/intervention program
which addresses academic, behavioral, and socialpsychological disengagement and academic skill deficits as
indicated by data is critical
Supports for ALL
(Core, Universal Instruction- Tier 1)
Academics
• All students
• Evidence‐based core
curriculum & instruction
• Assessment system and
data‐based decision
making
Behavior
• All students, All settings
• Positive behavioral
expectations explicitly
taught and reinforced
• Consistent approach to
discipline
• Assessment system and
data‐based decision
making
First Steps
• The most important first step in successfully
implementing MTSS/RTI and increasing learning is
ensuring the quality of full class instruction.
• The least expensive way to increase learning at your
school is to improve full class instruction.
• The change that will affect the most number of
students at your school is to improve full class
instruction.
Improving Tier 1
• Syllabus
• Pre test – prerequisite assessment
• Common Assessments – analyzing and using
the data
• Differentiation of content, process, product
• Proactively seeking out data of incoming
students
• Vertical alignment between 6th & 7th grade
• Vertical alignment between 8th & 9th grade
Supports for SOME
(Supplemental Instruction – Tier 2)
Academics
• Supplemental targeted
skill interventions
• Small groups
• Frequent progress
monitoring to guide
intervention design
Behavior
• Supplemental targeted
skill interventions
• Small groups
• Frequent progress
monitoring to guide
intervention design
Helping Students who Are Off Track
• Tier 2
– Credit Retrieval
– Reading Intervention Class
– Math Intervention Class
– Learning strategies
– AVID
– Academic Tutoring
– No Zero Zone
Support for FEW
(Intensive, Individualized Instruction – Tier 3)
Academics
• More intense targeted
skill interventions
• Customized
interventions
• Frequent progress
monitoring to guide
intervention design
Behavior
• Student centered
planning
• Customized function based
interventions
• Frequent progress
monitoring to guide
intervention design
Infrastructure of a
Multi-Tiered System of Supports
Think about…could we…
• Direct a significant amount of resources to critical transition
years (6th and 9th) to prevent academic and behavioral problems
• Provide opportunities for mentoring, advisement, and academic
support within the master schedule for all students
• Include classes which provide instruction in organization, study
skills, note-taking, problem solving, and communication in the
school’s master schedule
• Intensify instruction by providing additional time and personnel or
smaller class sizes for classes which typically result in high rates
of course failures
Scheduling of Multi-Tiered Supports
Suggestions – Are we already doing these?
• Build time into the school’s master schedule to allow for
weekly common planning/PLC time for content teams and
for cross content teams at least monthly
• Intervention teachers plan with core content teachers and
align intervention strategies with core instruction
• Develop school leadership team members who can monitor
and participate in the work of all other school teams
Great Behavior Resource
How to Find Behavior Site…
• MTSS Web Site – Resource Links – Polk
County Behavior
Or
• Google:
:
Polk Elementary PBS
T