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Communities of Practice Session Let's Connect 5-1-23

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MTSS Lab Year 2 Update-Evolution of CoP Session Let's Connect 5-7-24

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EdReports Math Practices Series (MP 7-8)

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EdReports Math Practices Series (MP 7-8)

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EdReports - Evidence-Rich. Educator-Led. Free.

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2023/02/14

In this four-part series, the EdReports mathematics team explores the Standards for Mathematical Practice and why they're essential for every student to learn and grow. Read the rest of the series here:

When I was in school, my math teachers would often kick off a new topic by telling us the relevant formula or shortcut upfront-then we'd get straight down to practicing the procedure. Looking back, it was kind of like a movie spoiler: we knew the ending, but we missed out on getting invested in the why and the how of the story and character development along the way.

The Math Practices set students up to work through mistakes, try a range of approaches, and find different pathways toward making their own conceptual breakthroughs.

To grow toward college- and career-ready proficiency, students need opportunities to actively engage in their own mathematical exploration and experimentation. That's exactly what the Standards for Mathematical Practice prompt us to do as educators: set students up to work through mistakes, try a range of approaches, and find different pathways toward making their own conceptual breakthroughs.

Math Practices 7 and 8 epitomize this, empowering learners to uncover the underlying structures of problems, and to prove-and even create-methods and formulas for themselves.

Math Practice 7 (MP7): Look for and make use of structure

Example of MP7 in a 7th Grade Classroom
Students engage with the following problem. They've learned and practiced applying the formula C = πd (circumference = pi multiplied by diameter) in previous lessons.

Find the circumference of the circle. The sides of the square are 3 inches long.

Why this Practice is important:

Learners might initially see the two shapes as unrelated and not know where to start. But by using their existing knowledge, they can make use of the shapes' structures to solve the problem.

Students know that all sides of a square are equal (K-5 content standards). They can also visualize or draw the diameter of the circle (K-5 content standards) and see that it has the same value as the sides of the square.

Analyzing and questioning structures is an essential, real-world skill that transfers across subjects and beyond-whether it's the structure of a cylinder, a cell, a sonnet, or a society.

Once students understand that the sides of the square and the diameter of the circle are equivalent, they can calculate the circumference of the circle using the formula C = πd.

Example of MP8 in a 5th Grade Classroom
Students solve the problems below to find the missing numbers:

This set of problems allows students to engage with MP8 via a " guess-check-generalize" approach. They guess a method to find the missing value in the first expression and check if the method works; if it does, they can use repeated reasoning to apply it to the other expressions to find out if it generalizes.

Math Practice 8 calls for students to " maintain oversight of the process, while attending to the details." In this case, oversight means noticing how the answer changes as the fractions increase across problems. At the same time, students attend to the detail of whether their method produces an accurate answer in each instance.

Why this Practice is important:
Students engaging in Math Practice 7 look for patterns or structures to make generalizations and solve problems, seek out multiple approaches when analyzing problems, and find ways to simplify complex expressions and representations.

MP7 is all about building the habit of looking carefully to see how the parts of a mathematical object work together. As well as solving the problem in front of them, this allows students to activate and deepen prior knowledge by connecting a problem to related mathematical objects and concepts.

When learners prove or discover a method for themselves through repeated reasoning, they're engaging deeply with mathematical concepts and procedures.

What's more, analyzing and questioning structures is an essential, real-world skill that transfers across subjects and beyond-whether it's the structure of a cylinder, a cell, a sonnet, or a society.

Math Practice 8 (MP8): Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

Math Practice 8 is about investigating general approaches to a type or category of problem rather than solving a single, standalone problem. So, students use repeated calculation and reasoning in order to understand or create a method, formula, shortcut, or algorithm that can be applied to a given group of related problems.

For example, elementary students might add 2 + 2, then 2 + 2 + 2, and so on, to understand that multiplication is a shortcut for repeated addition. Older learners might substitute a range of different inputs into a formula to test whether it holds true across all contexts.

Math Practices 7 and 8 encourage productive struggle in order for students to earn the thrill and reward of their own "lightbulb" moments.

MP8 builds student confidence and belief, both in math and in their own proficiency. When learners prove for themselves that a method works-or even discover their own method through repeated reasoning-they're engaging deeply with mathematical concepts and procedures.

That kind of engagement can't be accessed by introducing a rule or method and telling students that it "just works." They know and believe that it works because they tried it out themselves.

The Role of Instructional Materials and How EdReports Reviews for the Math Practices

EdReports' educator reviewers consider a range of factors when evaluating materials for Math Practices 7 and 8 in a K-12 curriculum review. This includes looking for problems that are open and challenging enough to require students to think about different approaches and checking whether a program provides a variety of examples that explicitly focus on patterns and repeated reasoning.

Both Practices encourage productive struggle in order for students to earn the thrill and reward of their own "lightbulb" moments. To engage learners in Math Practice 7, materials should avoid telegraphing explicitly that something could or should be done to the structure of a problem; students should have multiple chances to make those structural "aha" breakthroughs themselves.

When considering Math Practice 8 in instructional materials review, one pitfall is for programs to offer hints or procedures that take students straight to a shortcut or rule of thumb. Again, we want materials to give students extensive opportunities to discover methods independently through repeated reasoning.

The Impact of Math Practices 7 and 8

Examining and interrogating structures; experimenting with multiple strategies to solve a problem; testing and iterating on your own approaches and hypotheses. These are the kinds of invaluable, real-world skills students need to learn and grow into proficient mathematicians prepared for college and careers.

Instead of giving spoilers, Math Practices 7 and 8 put students front and center in finding their own paths and shaping their own stories.

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How Math Practices 7 and 8 Power Student "Lightbulb" Moments

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2023/02/14 In this four-part series, the EdReports mathematics team explores the Standards for Mathematical Practice and why they're essential for every student to learn and grow. Read the rest of the series here: When I was in school, my math teachers would often kick off a new topic by telling us the relevant formula or shortcut upfront-then we'd get straight down to practicing the procedure.

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EdReports Math Practices Series (MP 5-6)

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EdReports Math Practices Series (MP 5-6)

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EdReports - Evidence-Rich. Educator-Led. Free.

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2023/01/10
In this four-part series, the EdReports mathematics team explores the Standards for Mathematical Practice and why they're essential for every student to learn and grow. Read the rest of the series here:
Through elementary and middle school, I was good at math-but it never really lit a spark for me. That all changed in ninth grade, thanks to Ms. Franklin.

I always remember the class when Ms. Franklin challenged us to use the quadratic formula to create a water-glass xylophone. We calculated and measured out the correct liquid volumes to set all the glasses to different musical pitches, then performed a flawless rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

Ms. Franklin brought creativity into the classroom in a way I'd never seen before, making math fun and relevant to help us grow our mathematical proficiency. When I became a teacher, I knew I wanted to do the same for my students.

Math Practices 5 and 6 build confidence and agency, encouraging students to think critically and show deep understanding of mathematical concepts through precise expression.

To inspire a love for math and to build the skills that students need for college and careers, the 8 Standards for Mathematical Practice are a must. Practices 5 and 6 in particular build confidence and agency, encouraging students to think critically and show deep understanding of mathematical concepts through precise expression. Let's take a closer look!

Math Practice 5 (MP5): Use appropriate tools strategically

Example of MP5 in a 6th Grade Classroom
Students engage with the following word problem:

A runner took 300 minutes to run 40 miles. If she runs at a constant speed:

A) How long would she take to run 12 miles?
B) What distance would she run in 30 minutes?
C) What's her speed in miles per hour?
D) What's her pace in minutes per mile?

The teacher elicits solutions from the whole class, modeling the use of several different tools and strategies. These could include finding the unit rate of minutes per mile, using a double number line, using a tape diagram, and compiling a table to compare minutes against miles like the one below.

Why this Practice is important:
Students engaging in MP5 understand the range of available tools, including physical tools (e.g. a ruler or protractor), cognitive strategies (e.g. formulas or methods), and software tools (e.g. a spreadsheet or graphing calculator). Students can also understand the benefits and limits of applying a given tool to a particular problem or context.

MP5 is a great confidence builder. When I taught sixth grade, my students were finding their feet in the transition to middle school, grappling with new and daunting responsibilities outside of class: finding their lockers, getting to class on time, turning in homework. They were similarly daunted by math problems and often didn't know where to begin.

When students know what tools are available, they're energized to get started, make mistakes, and be creative. There's little more satisfying in math than looking at a problem and feeling confident that you know how to approach it.

But when students know what tools are available, they're energized to get started, make mistakes, and be creative. There's little more satisfying in math than looking at a problem and feeling confident that you know how to approach it. Math Practice 5 also promotes student agency, putting the onus on learners to understand a problem conceptually and figure out the best method or tool to apply to it.

Math Practice 6 (MP6): Attend to precision

Example of MP6 in a High School Classroom
Students solve quadratic equations using two different methods: graphing and the quadratic formula. The class splits into two debate groups-each is assigned one of the methods and prepares a presentation to defend it.

The teams give their presentations and debate, engaging with MP6 by using precise language, giving clear definitions, and explaining their reasoning. The precision required by the debate format encourages students to collectively demonstrate and deepen their understanding of the underlying mathematical concepts.

Why this practice is important:
As students engage in MP6, they use precision when giving definitions, when applying the correct symbols and units of measurement, and when calculating accurately and efficiently. In doing so, they demonstrate conceptual understanding and procedural skills-and the better you understand the math, the easier it is to be precise when applying skills.

Math is a language of its own-replacing the decimal with a comma in the number 3.142 makes a big difference! Conjugating verbs as a language learner can seem arbitrary if you don't know that the verb endings reference different subjects; the same goes for understanding the concepts behind the language of math.

As a new teacher, I saw my students' frustration and confusion around MP6: expressing volume with inches squared, mixing up x and y axes. My eureka moment came when I realized they weren't attending to precision because they didn't understand the "why."

A student who's taken the real-world measurements of a cuboid's length, width, and height stands a better chance of connecting those three values with the concept of cubic inches than a learner focusing solely on the algorithmic procedure of calculating volume.

A student who's taken the real-world measurements of a cuboid's length, width, and height stands a better chance of connecting those three values with the concept of cubic inches than a learner focusing solely on the algorithmic procedure of calculating volume. That conceptual understanding positions students to express their answers precisely using the correct unit.

The Role of Instructional Materials and How EdReports Reviews for the Math Practices

High-quality instructional materials help students develop mathematical knowledge and skills via intentional development of all the Math Practices. That's why EdReports' mathematics review tools address how materials elicit the Practices in student tasks and guide teachers to support that engagement.

In the case of MP5, our educator reviewers consider factors such as how well materials require students to choose and use tools and strategies that deepen their mathematical understanding and to recognize tools' benefits and limitations.

For MP6, reviewers look for evidence including whether materials require students to communicate using grade-level appropriate vocabulary, to calculate accurately and efficiently, and to formulate clear explanations of their thinking. They also look at how well materials guide teachers to model all eight Practices and to monitor and give feedback on students' engagement with them.

Making the most of the Math Practices means having high expectations of every student-enabling them to learn, grow, and prepare for college and careers.

Making the most of the Math Practices means having high expectations of every student-enabling them to learn, grow, and prepare for college and careers. Math Practices 5 and 6 inspire learners to dive into challenges confidently, express themselves and justify their reasoning precisely, and apply their conceptual understanding and procedural skills to tackle real-world problems.

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How Math Practices 5 and 6 Build Student Confidence and Ownership of Their Learning

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2023/01/10 In this four-part series, the EdReports mathematics team explores the Standards for Mathematical Practice and why they're essential for every student to learn and grow. Read the rest of the series here: Through elementary and middle school, I was good at math-but it never really lit a spark for me.

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EdReports - Evidence-Rich. Educator-Led. Free.

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2022/12/23
In this four-part series, the EdReports mathematics team explores the Standards for Mathematical Practice and why they're essential for every student to learn and grow. Read the rest of the series here:
Think back to your days in secondary school. Most of us learned mathematics as a straight line: starting at one place with a question and following a predetermined path to arrive at a final answer. But over time through my own learning and experience as an educator, I came to understand that in reality mathematics is nothing like this. Mathematics is all about creatively solving problems and exploring different possibilities.

In our series on the importance of the Standards for Mathematical Practice, we've examined the ways in which the Practices support students to build crucial mathematical and critical thinking skills while connecting students to math in the world around them. Math Practice Four: Model with Mathematics (MP4) is no exception, and in most instances, MP4 encompasses some or all of the other seven Math Practices.

Rather than a straight line, mathematical modeling is more like a never ending circle. Through real-world situations, students determine how to best solve the questions in front of them. For example: how much paint is needed to paint an entire house? How can a school stay within a budget of $6 per student and meet nutritional needs? Or, which baseball team out of the 30 major league teams is the best?

Asking questions like these not only makes mathematics relevant and exciting, but demands that students do more than consider one method for solving a single equation. The open-endedness of mathematical modeling also prompts students to use their individual and collective expertise. This inspires agency and belonging, within mathematics and across subject areas, in ways that can develop social and emotional competencies.

The practice of modeling makes students leaders in their own learning experience and challenges them to not simply make calculations but to also consider problems from various perspectives. As students encounter and negotiate those perspectives, they are able to connect knowledge from multiple disciplines and create new knowledge.

The practice of modeling makes students leaders in their own learning experience and challenges them to not simply make calculations but to also consider problems from various perspectives.

This focus on critical thinking, problem-solving, the value of multiple points of view, and developing mathematical skills is integral to preparing students for life beyond high school. It is why modeling is stressed in rigorous college and career-ready standards.

Mathematical Modeling Deep Dive

To better understand why mathematical modeling can be transformative for students, it's important to see it in action. Let's explore mathematical modeling with the baseball question I posed earlier: which is the best team?

Determining the problem and making assumptions

The first step in modeling often involves focusing on and defining subjective words, and exploring the problem through research and brainstorming. To answer the question about which team is the best, students first need to determine what "best" means, and as they define "best," they need to consider the assumptions they are making in their definition.

For example: Does best mean the team with the most wins against teams of the same or better record? Does best mean the team with the most hits in clutch situations or go-ahead home runs in the seventh inning or later? Does best mean the team with the strongest pitching and defense? Or does it mean some combination of all these factors? If so, which qualities are we going to preference and by how much?

As students begin to define the problem and make assumptions, reducing the number of factors and simplifying the question will change the variables that make up the calculations and determine the conclusion they reach. Already, you can imagine that two different students could approach this same problem using different assumptions, leading to different mathematical content, and arrive at equally valid outcomes.
Defining variables, making calculations, analyzing and reporting your results
As students begin to determine which team is best, they can combine the variables they've defined with different calculations to arrive at their solutions. While certainly some kinds of questions will lend themselves to specific kinds of mathematics (i.e. algebra equations versus geometric models), the point of mathematical modeling is that students are able to exercise their own creativity, judgments, and knowledge of mathematics as they attempt to reach their conclusions.

What's especially powerful about modeling is what happens after students get the answers they're searching for. Then it's time for them to share their findings and assess the strengths and weaknesses of their process, analyze whether or not the answer they arrived at makes sense, and consider how they might have done things differently.

This kind of examination and reflection is not as meaningful to students if there's a fixed, final answer with a limited number of ways to get to the solution. With modeling, not only do students have to find a "best team" mathematically, they have to defend how they arrived at such a choice. Few learning opportunities test and stretch kids in so many different ways.

MP4 also provides opportunities for educators to affirm the cultural identities of their students and their students' families by engaging in community-based problems that allow students to utilize their cultural and linguistic practices.

MP4 also provides opportunities for educators to affirm the cultural identities of their students and their students' families by engaging in community-based problems that allow students to utilize their cultural and linguistic practices. I offered the example of baseball earlier, but questions could just as easily focus on students planning a picnic for their families and determining the supplies they'll need, or exploring the impact of and solutions for environmental waste in a local community. The possibilities are endless for teachers to center student experiences in ways that support them to thrive.

Through mathematical modeling we can dispel the idea of mathematics as out of reach for most and only accessible to the lucky, talented few.

Through mathematical modeling we can dispel the idea of mathematics as out of reach for most and only accessible to the lucky, talented few. We have the chance to show students what mathematics can mean to their lives but, more than that, we can show them that they are in control of solving and creatively answering the questions they have always wondered about.

For example: Does best mean the team with the most wins against teams of the same or better record? Does best mean the team with the most hits in clutch situations or go-ahead home runs in the seventh inning or later? Does best mean the team with the strongest pitching and defense? Or does it mean some combination of all these factors? If so, which qualities are we going to preference and by how much?

As students begin to define the problem and make assumptions, reducing the number of factors and simplifying the question will change the variables that make up the calculations and determine the conclusion they reach. Already, you can imagine that two different students could approach this same problem using different assumptions, leading to different mathematical content, and arrive at equally valid outcomes.

The Role of Instructional Materials and How EdReports Reviews for the Math Practices

Through my work as a teacher and at EdReports, I've learned that one key way of ensuring that students have opportunities to participate in the math practices is through their materials. When teachers have access to high-quality curriculum, their instructional decisions are strengthened with problems and resources ready for classroom use.

The Math Practices and their meaningful connection to high-quality standards are central to the EdReports mathematics review tools. Our tools examine the ways in which materials support the intentional development of the Practices as integral to college and career-ready standards. As EdReports evaluates programs, we look for tasks that embrace the idea that there could be more than one answer, and that different assumptions and definitions could lead to different results. Mathematics becomes more than just numbers and variables in these materials: it's about the possibility those numbers represent when combined with student ingenuity, creativity, logic, and analysis.

Instructional materials will not solve all the challenges in our mathematics classrooms, but they are integral to providing teachers with a foundation of resources that make it all the more likely that students will get to experience mathematics as full of possibility and with every door open.

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Deep Dive: Mathematics for All - How Modeling Transforms Student Learning - EdReports

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2022/12/23 In this four-part series, the EdReports mathematics team explores the Standards for Mathematical Practice and why they're essential for every student to learn and grow. Read the rest of the series here: Think back to your days in secondary school.

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EdReports Math Practices Series (MP 1-3)

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EdReports Math Practices Series (MP 1-3)

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EdReports - Evidence-Rich. Educator-Led. Free.

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Lynn SmithEdReports Elementary Mathematics Content Specialist 2022/09/04

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Deep Dive: How Math Practices 1–3 Help All Students Access Math Learning and Build Skills for the Future -

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Part one of our series on the Mathematical Practices focuses on why they matter for student learning, and the role high-quality instructional materials play in supporting teachers to incorporate them meaningfully into the classroom.

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Ohio’s Evidence-Based Clearinghouse provides information and resources on how to use data and evidence within this cycle. Hover over the different steps of the cycle to learn more about each step.

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We all know it is better for our students (and for us!) when we share responsibility and work collectively. And yet, collaboration in practice is often inefficient and frustrating. In this webinar, we will discuss how an MTSS helps people become better collaborators and problem solvers. And, if we collaborate within MTSS...what other things may improve, as well!

Karen is the Executive Director of Professional Learning at Branching Minds, where she leads a team of education consultants to provide guidance and support to schools and districts, as they implement Branching Minds and improve their MTSS practice. Prior to Branching Minds, Karen spent 12 years building a national professional development program for Amplify Education, a leading company in the education technology space. Prior to her work in the edtech space, Karen served as curriculum director, principal, and teacher for several school districts in the North Texas area for 23 years. Karen holds an M.Ed. from the University of North Texas and a Superintendent's Certification from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Lauren Schutz is a Professional Services Manager at Branching Minds. She has been working in the field of education for over a decade as a teacher, school psychologist, executive functioning coach, and educational consultant. Lauren earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her M.A/EdS in school psychology at Tufts University. She most enjoys helping learners (child and adult) define their own goals for success, then encouraging them through the productive struggle that comes with growth. Ms. Schutz writes on a variety of education-related topics from her hometown in Chicago, IL.

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Webinar Recording - Mindset is a Resource: Using the MTSS Process to Build Community & Collaboration

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We all know it is better for our students (and for us!) when we share responsibility and work collectively. And yet, collaboration in practice is often inefficient and frustrating. In this webinar, we will discuss how an MTSS helps people become better collaborators and problem solvers.

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What evidence-based mathematics practices can teachers employ?

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Page 4: Explicit, Systematic Instruction

Explicit, systematic instruction, sometimes simply referred to as explicit instruction, involves teaching a specific concept or procedure in a highly structured and carefully sequenced manner. Research has indicated that teaching mathematics in this manner is highly effective and can significantly improve a student's ability to perform mathematical operations (e.g., adding, multiplying, finding the square root) as well as to solve word problems. This strategy has been shown to be effective across all grade levels and for diverse groups of students, including students with disabilities and ELLs. The key components of explicit, systematic instruction are highlighted in the table below.

Explicit Components

During this highly structured instruction, the teacher:

Clearly identifies the skills or concepts to be learned, which might include highlighting important details

Connects the new content to previous learning

Gives precise instructions

Models concepts or procedures in a step-by-step manner and includes "think alouds"- the teacher verbalizing his or her thought process while demonstrating the concept or procedure

Provides opportunities to practice, using the following scaffolded instruction sequence:
scaffolded instruction
Instructional technique in which teachers offer support for students learning new skills by systematically building on their experiences and knowledge.

Guided practice - Students and the teacher work problems together, with the students gradually solving more of the problem.

Independent practice - Students work independently or in small groups to solve problems.

Encourages the student to verbalize the strategy he is using to solve the problem and his reasons for doing so

Offers specific feedback about correct and incorrect actions, followed by time to correct errors; includes reteaching and clarifying instructions

Checks for and promotes maintenance

maintenance
In behavior assessment, term used to describe the extent to which a student's behavior is self-sustaining over time.

Systematic Components

During this carefully planned and sequenced instruction, the teacher:

Presents lessons that build on one another, moving from simple skills and concepts to more complex ones or from high-frequency skills to low-frequency skills

Breaks complex skills into smaller, more manageable chunks, a method also known as task analysis. Click here to view a sample task analysis.

Prioritizes and sequences tasks from easy to more difficult

Scaffolds instruction by providing temporary supports (e.g., manipulatives, written prompts or cues)

Sample Task Analysis Task: adding two two-digit numbers

Step 1:
Add the numbers in the one's column.

Step 2:
If the sum is less than 10, write the number under the one's column. If the sum is 10 or greater, write the one's digit under the one's column and write the ten's digit on top of the ten's column.

Step 3:
Add the numbers in the ten's column. If applicable, be sure to include the number you carried.

Step 4:
Write the sum of the numbers under the ten's column.

Research Shows

An influential meta-analysis of mathematics interventions indicated that explicit instruction led to large improvements in student mathematics skills.
(Gersten, et al., 2009)

The inclusion of explicit instruction in core mathematics instruction for kindergarten students improved their achievement.
(Doabler, et al., 2015)

How does this practice align?

High-Leverage Practices (HLP)

HLP12: Systematically design instruction toward a specific learning goal.

HLP16: Use explicit instruction.

Although all students benefit from explicit, systematic instruction, students with mathematical disabilities and difficulties often require it if they are to learn foundational grade-level skills and concepts.
Orientation to the Lesson Initial Instruction Teacher-Guided Practice Independent Practice Maintenance
The videos below illustrate explicit, systematic instruction being implemented during mathematics instruction, first at the elementary level and then at the high school level.

Elementary School Example (time: 3:07)
View Transcript
Transcript: Explicit, Systematic Instruction: Elementary

Narrator: In this video, the teacher uses explicit, systematic instruction. During the first step of explicit, systematic instruction, the teacher readies the students for the lesson.

Teacher: All right, boys and girls, today during math class we are going to be adding one-digit numbers by drawing pictures. Now, in the past, we used ten frames to help us out. Show me a thumbs up if you remember ten frames to help you out. I see lots of thumbs up out there. Lots of you remember.

We've also used counters before to help us out. Show me a thumbs up if you remember using counters. I see lots more thumbs up, too. Lots of you remember.

Well, today, we're going to be adding by drawing pictures, and we're going to do this because you aren't always going to have counters in your pockets or ten frames in your backpacks to help you. So today I'm going to teach you how you can draw a picture that's going to help you add two numbers together.

Narrator: During the next step, the teacher leads the students through several problems, modeling the procedures.

Teacher: We're going to start with this problem here: 2+4. To start, I'm going to draw dots to show my first number, two. One. Two. Dominique, how many dots did I draw?

Dominique: Two.

Teacher: That's right. I drew two dots. Next, I need to draw four dots. Mateo, how many dots do I need to draw next?

Mateo: Four.

Teacher: That's right. I need to draw four dots. I'm going to come over here and draw four dots. Now, I want to make sure that my picture matches the problem, so I'm going to count and make sure I have one, two, and then here I have one, two...

You know, those dots are kind of messy. If I'm going to be drawing a picture, I need my dots to be nice and neat. So I'm going to draw my dots down below...two, three, four. Now I've drawn four dots.

My last step is to count all the dots to see how many dots I have all together. I have one, two, three, four, five, six dots. Carlos, how many dots do I have?

Carlos: Six.

Teacher: That's right! I have six dots. So I know that 2+4=6. Now something I want you to remember: When you're adding, sometimes you may know the answer right away, and that's awesome. Other times, you may not know the answer right away, and that is one example of a time when you may want to draw a picture to help you add.

Narrator: After the teacher leads students through several problems, she then implements teacher-guided practice.

Teacher: Now, I'm going to have you do the next three problems with a partner. I'm going to walk around the class. I'm going to answer any questions or help you as needed.

Narrator: After the teacher has monitored the students during teacher-guided practice and provided corrective feedback, she asks students to complete problems independently. To ensure maintenance, the teacher plans for opportunities for ongoing practice and provides instruction for students who have not mastered the concept or procedure.

High School Example (time: 4:57)
View Transcript
Transcript: Explicit, Systematic Instruction: High School

Narrator: In this video, the teacher uses explicit, systematic instruction during a mathematics lesson. During the first step of explicit, systematic instruction, the teacher prepares the students for the lesson.

Teacher: Today during math class, we are going to use the tangent function to help us find the height of objects. And if you recall, this week we've been learning all about right triangles. Mateo, do you remember what angle makes right triangles so special.

Mateo: Ninety degrees.

Teacher: That's right. They always contain a 90-degree angle. And when we have a right triangle, we know we can figure out the other angles or the lengths of the sides of the triangle using special functions. And we learned the phrase Soh Cah Toa to help us remember what these ratios are. Raise your hand if you remember what the "S" stands for. Yes, Jermaine.

Jermaine: Sine.

Teacher: That's right. The "S" stands for "sine." The "C" stands for the "cosine." And, Susan, do you remember what the "T" stands for?

Susan: Tangent.

Teacher: That's right. The "tangent." This is what we're going to be focused on today.

Teacher: So using this knowledge and thinking about Soh Cah Toa to help us remember what those ratios are, we are going to solve a problem and figure out the height of a flagpole. Now, you wouldn't normally be able to climb a flagpole or have a tape measure in your pocket at all times to help you find the height of the flagpole, so you can use one of these functions to help you figure out what the height is without having to go climb it.

Narrator: During the next step, the teacher models several problems, asking questions throughout to check for understanding and to ensure student engagement.

Teacher: So, to start, I'm going to draw a picture to help me figure out what the problem's telling me. I have a flagpole, and I know that 11 feet from the base of the flagpole is Juan.

I'm going to look back at my problem, and I notice that it says "the angle of elevation from Juan's feet to the top of the flagpole-so here to here-is 70 degrees. So I'm going to label that on my diagram. And looking back at the problem, I've created a diagram showing me everything the problem is telling me. But I notice something else. I notice that this flagpole and the ground make a 90-degree angle, which means this is a right triangle, and we can use one of our ratios to help us figure out the height of the flagpole. And for this I know I want to figure out the side opposite to the 70-degree angle. So looking back up there, I notice that tangent is the ratio between the side opposite and the side adjacent to my target angle, so that's what I'm going to use. Sophie, remind me what the ratio for tangent is.

Sophie: Opposite over adjacent.

Teacher: That's right! The tangent is the ratio of the opposite side over the adjacent side. Great thinking, Sophie. Given this equation, I'm going to then fill in all the information I have from the problem. So what is my angle in this problem? Yes.

Student: Seventy degrees.

Teacher: Great! It is 70 degrees. So the tangent of 70 degrees equals the opposite. I don't know what the opposite side is, so I'm just going to leave in the word "opposite" over the adjacent side. I notice my side adjacent to the 70-degree angle is 11 feet, so I can write "11" right there. Now that my equation is written, all I have to do is solve...equals 30.25. So I know the length of the side opposite to my target angle is, which is also the height of the flagpole, is 30.25 feet.

Narrator: After the teacher leads the students through several more problems, she implements guided practice.

Teacher: Next, I'm going to have you work with a partner on the next two problems. Again, you're going to be solving for the tangent function, and I'm going to be walking around, answering questions or providing help as needed.

Narrator: After the teacher has monitored guided practice and provided corrective feedback to each pair of students, she asks the students to complete problems independently. To ensure maintenance, the teacher plans opportunities for ongoing practice and provides additional instruction for students who have not mastered the concept or procedure.

For Your Information

Explicit, systematic instruction is critical for teaching students effective strategies for solving mathematics problems, such as the ones presented in this module's subsequent pages.

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IRIS | Page 4: Explicit, Systematic Instruction

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Explicit, systematic instruction, sometimes simply referred to as explicit instruction, involves teaching a specific concept or procedure in a highly structured and carefully sequenced manner.

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Mason City Schools K-6 Literacy Intervention Guide 

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Mason City Schools K-6 Literacy Intervention Guide 

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This process is a continuous work in progress as they consider approaches to screen, intervene, progress monitor, and hold data-based decision making team meetings. Mason wanted us to note that they welcome feedback if anyone has feedback to share you can email it to kelly.miller@bcesc.org.

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Copy of MCS K-6 Literacy Intervention Guide (1)

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Strategies to Share: Lead collectively: How to build trust and engage family, community, and other stakeholders

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Watch this expert Q&A with district leaders who share insights on how to engage our family, educators, and community stakeholders to achieve student success.

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Tools to support the continuous improvement of your MTSS Framework: Walk-through forms, coaching questions, surveys for feedback, coaching menu, quick note template.

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This toolkit provides a few resources to consider when coaching your team for MTSS success. These resources work no matter where you are in the MTSS implementation journey.

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*Used by Lakota Local Schools

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Social and Emotional Learning - Aperture Education

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Evidence-based SEL Assessment to Support Student Growth

Directly aligned to the CASEL™ framework, the DESSA is a nationally standardized, strength-based behavior rating scale that assesses students' social and emotional competence with editions that support students K-12. It has been used by districts and out-of-school time programs across the country to support social and emotional learning, and has been used or evaluated in 130+ peer reviewed studies.

Download the DESSA Manual for an in-depth look into the research behind the DESSA and how it can be implemented in your district or organization.

About the DESSA

The DESSA provides a common lens and language for crafting an SEL program that involves educators, parents, and students. The DESSA is commonly used to inform the delivery of SEL at Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 as well as measuring the results of that delivery, and supports a variety of educational models including:

We Start With Strengths

The DESSA is entirely strength-based; meaning that the items query positive behaviors (e.g., get along with others) rather than maladaptive ones (e.g., annoy others). For each behavior, the rater (a teacher or parent) is asked to indicate on a five-point scale how often the student engaged in that behavior over the past four weeks.

Sample Questions:

CASEL-aligned Competencies

The DESSA provides information about eight key social and emotional competencies aligned to the CASEL framework. DESSA scores can be used to pinpoint each child's specific strengths and opportunities for growth in each of the eight social and emotional competency domains and guide school/program-wide, class-wide, small group strategies, and individual strategies to promote those competencies.

Reliable, Valid, Respected

Trusted by Johns Hopkins University, American Institutes for Research (AIR), the Rand Corporation, City Year, and the Y of the USA for use in major studies, the DESSA sets the standard for SEL assessment. The DESSA measures were developed to meet or exceed the standards promulgated by the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education (AERA, 2014). The DESSA-mini one-minute screener is the only screener to meet universal criteria set forth by the World Health Organization.

The DESSA for K-8

The DESSA suite for students K-8 includes the DESSA-mini, a one-minute screener and progress monitoring tool, and the DESSA, a diagnostic assessment tool.

The DESSA and DESSA-mini have helped districts and out-of-school time programs across the country use social and emotional learning to support K-8 tiered instruction, improve academics, reduce behavioral infractions, increase student engagement, and more. Learn all of the ways you can understand students' specific strengths and opportunities for growth to guide SEL instruction in your district, school, or program in the DESSA manual.

The DESSA for 9-12

The DESSA suite for students 9-12 includes the DESSA High School Edition (HSE) mini, a one-minute screener, the DESSA High School Edition, a teacher-completed diagnostic assessment, and the DESSA-High School Edition Student Self-Report, a student-completed assessment.

43 questions

3-5 minutes to complete

The DESSA-High School Edition suite has helped districts and out-of-school time programs support students grades 9-12 grow their social and emotional competence in preparation for college and career. Learn more about how the DESSA-HSE can support your high school students in the DESSA Manual.

Make an Impact with Your Biggest Strength: Your Educators

Effective SEL implementation starts with caring and knowledgeable educators who model SEL to their students. Through the Educator Social and Emotional Reflection and Training (EdSERT) professional development program, you and your staff will learn about the CASEL-aligned competencies assessed through the DESSA, how to use these competencies in supporting your own well-being, and strategies to model and use in the classroom.

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DESSA - Social and Emotional Learning - Aperture Education

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Directly aligned to the CASEL™ framework, the DESSA is a nationally standardized, strength-based behavior rating scale that assesses students' social and emotional competence with editions that support students K-12. It has been used by districts and out-of-school time programs across the country to support social and emotional learning, and has been used or evaluated in 130+ peer reviewed studies.

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Access Code for February
Username: RethinkSELandMH
Passcode: SELandMH02%

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You may be familiar with Check In Check Out as one of the most common (and effective!) interventions for students with mild to moderate behavior challenges. But it is not the only option!

Join us for this webinar to review best practices for Check In and Check Out, plus several additional Tier II behavior interventions that involve your wider school community in building relationships and supporting struggling students.

Note: this webinar is part of our series, "The Power of Community in MTSS." Click here to learn more about and register for the webinar series.

About the presenters:

Trudy Bender

Trudy Bender is the MTSS Marketing Content Manager at Branching Minds. She previously served as the Coordinator of District Behavior Intervention at Waco ISD, where she facilitated the implementation of a multi-tiered system of supports for behavior along with initiatives to improve school climate and to build teacher capacity in classroom management through peer coaching. She is passionate about helping teachers and administrators to develop a positive, restorative, instructional approach to behavior that reduces disproportionality in discipline while improving social-emotional and academic outcomes for all students. Trudy holds an Ed.S. in School Psychology from Baylor University.

Brittany Shurley
Brittany Shurley is an Instructional Design Manager at Branching Minds. Brittany has served students, educators, and leaders in various roles throughout her career, including as a classroom teacher, learning disabilities specialist, school-based leader, and district level administrator. Brittany has extensive experience in facilitating the implementation of MTSS at the district and school levels. She is passionate about ensuring teachers have the tools to promote safe, healthy, and engaging learning environments where students are experiencing success.

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Check In Check Out and Beyond: Tier 2 Behavior Interventions That Build Relationships and Foster School Connectedness

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You may be familiar with Check In Check Out as one of the most common (and effective!) interventions for students with mild to moderate behavior challenges. But it is not the only option!

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How Tier 2 Instruction & Interventions Layer onto Tier 1 Differentiated Core Instruction

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How Tier 2 Instruction & Interventions Layer onto Tier 1 Differentiated Core Instruction

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About two years ago, I was a district administrator for school climate improvement. In this role, I was asked to support a group of administrators that were handling intense behaviors on their campus. The campus had maxed out its intensive support resources, and determined that they had no other option than to create a new tier of support-what they referred to as "Tier 4."

I have noticed this trend quite often. I hear different variations of this new level of need: "Tier 4," "deep red," or even "too many red students."

What does this mean?

A Multi-Tiered System of Supports is based on the three-tiered public health model. This means that we must identify the root cause(s) within our current system and identify why it's not serving our student population. By creating an additional tier, we ignore a problem that is perforating our entire system.

There is no Tier 4. However, there is a Tier 2. And this tier is often overlooked in how powerful of an intervention tool it can be.

I also found that my MTSS teams were extreme advocates for student support. They could create an individualized, intensive for a student. We allocated individual staff and connected resources at this level with ease. But where does this leave Tier 2? What I find are two scenarios.

The first scenario is a misunderstanding between Tier 1 support and Tier 2 intervention. The second scenario is directly related to confusion between Tier 1 and Tier 2, leaving schools to allocate too many resources to provide an over-abundance of students with intensive, individualized instruction-having nowhere else to turn. Unfortunately, because Tier 2 is so hard to define in practice, it sometimes becomes ineffective or even nonexistent.

Fortunately, I know that educators try to do what is best for their students when given the proper information and tools. I believe that a lack of appropriate Tier 2 support exists because of two important truths.

My goal is to share how you can build a foundation for Tier 2 instruction and support, create structures that allow the opportunity for Tier 2 instruction and support to exist, and make Tier 2 fit within your school, district, and state constraints.

Moreover, we'll take a peek at best practices for grouping, providing Tier 2 instruction and intervention for reading, math, and social-emotional learning.

Before we dig into Tier 2, let's make sure we understand what each of the tiers within a multi-tiered framework means.

The three tiers are also known as levels of support or instruction and intervention that educators provide to students. There are various resources, strategies, and tools within each level that support our students' various needs.

The Differentiation Deal

Because Tier 1 instruction provides the foundation for Tier 2 instruction and intervention, it can sometimes be tricky to identify when you have moved from instruction to intervention. The following chart is a quick check reference for determining if you're differentiating or providing Tier 2 instruction and intervention.

Standards-driven, grade level expectations

Designed for ALL students

Accessible for ALL students

Use universal screener data to promote differentiation

High-quality

Monitoring progress with screeners and curriculum embedded assessments

Provided by the general education teacher

Linked to best practices for designing differentiated lessons

Targeted skills-driven

Designed for a group of students with the same skill deficit

Explicit instruction and feedback

Occur in addition to a strong Tier 1

Delivered to students with an identified need (less than 15-20%)

Identified through universal screeners, diagnostics, and monitoring progress

Evidence or research-based

Progress monitoring assessment and tools matched to skill needs

Provided by the general education teacher or by another trained instructor, within or outside the general education classroom.

Linked to Tier 2 Support Plans which include SMART goals, progress monitoring tools, and intervention selection and dosage

A Basic Foundation for Tier 2 Instruction and Intervention

Tier 2 instruction and interventions are seamlessly layered onto Tier 1 Differentiated Core Instruction.

Tier 2 instruction and interventions build upon a strong Tier 1 instruction foundation. A strong Tier 1 foundation means that about 15% of our total population may need additional support to meet grade-level standards.

Like Tier 1 Instruction, Tier 2 instruction and interventions should be high-quality and evidence or research-based. Tier 2 instruction and interventions are supplemental to the core instruction, meaning that as identified students begin to receive Tier 2 instruction and interventions, they continue accessing their high-quality, Tier 1 instruction. When we consider the MTSS pyramid, we look at it as layers upon layers-instead of isolated places of support.

Tier 2 instruction and interventions rely on an analysis of screening data to identify at-risk students and determine the health of the Tier 1 Differentiated Core.

Another foundational component of Tier 2 instruction and intervention is the use of universal screening data. Universal screening data can serve two essential purposes:

1. Identify the effectiveness of Tier 1 instruction.

2. Identify students who need additional support.

That second purpose is the foundation of our discussion. Through a thorough analysis of student data, collaboration teams can group students with similar needs or skill deficits. Through this process, interventions can occur in group support plans-providing more targeted instruction and intervention.

Important note: If you notice that more than 15% of your population demonstrates a need for Tier 2 targeted instruction and intervention, your team of professionals should examine your Tier 1 instructional practice, materials, and environments to ensure it is differentiated to meet current student needs.

A Quick Review of MTSS Supports, Interventions, and Accommodations

Best Practices for Tier 2 Instruction and Intervention

While Tier 2 begins with a strong Tier 1 foundation, additional best practices for Tier 2 instruction and intervention are needed.

Tier 2 instruction and interventions provide targeted support for small groups of students who are unsuccessful with Tier 1 instruction alone.

A key difference between Tier 1 instruction and Tier 2 intervention is the focus on targeted skills.

Tier 1 instruction is standards-driven, focusing on students' broad skills and generalizing to a learning target.

In contrast, Tier 2 interventions target a specific skill deficit that has been identified through assessment. Instruction and intervention targets this specific skill, and educators monitor growth on that specific skill with a normed progress monitoring tool.

In a group setting, a team can look at the group as a whole to determine students with similar skill needs to create intervention groups. It is important to remember that progress monitoring tools are essential components of these plans. These tools ensure that students respond to group intervention plans and provide insight into further action.

Tier 2 instruction and interventions should be readily accessible to support students as they demonstrate need.

Most research indicates that once a student demonstrates a need for targeted instruction or intervention, they should have access to it within 72 hours.

This means that our Tier 2 supports should be pre-designed, scheduled, and require low effort for teachers or interventionists to support. Here are some steps to make this actionable within a school setting:

Across campus, plan to implement three to four academic and three to four SEL/behavioral Tier 2 interventions with strong evidence that are readily accessible.

Allocate resources (like time, staff, and materials) to targeted interventions at the beginning of the year so there are no surprises.

Ensure that teams know how and when to access or apply targeted supports.

Skip adding interventions, programs, or tools mid-year unless there is a data-driven need. Teams can become confused and unsure of what to do next. If Tier 2 is too challenging to access, teachers may skip that step altogether.

By following these steps, teams will not have to spend hours thinking about what Tier 2 intervention will work best, and they will not have to navigate how to implement it. This streamlined process aids in creating an environment where Tier 2 is a viable option.

Tier 2 instruction and interventions include systematic and explicit instruction and interaction between the educator and the student.

Tier 2 instruction and intervention should be closely linked to Tier 1 instruction though there are some important differences. Explicit instruction is a way of teaching where the teacher provides overt instruction on the skill and allows the student to practice with scaffolds until they achieve mastery systematically.

We support the learner by giving clear directions and expectations, using clear and direct language and vocabulary, and monitoring the student's progress , positively providing immediate, specific corrective feedback.

Luckily, many databases, such as What Works Clearinghouse , curate interventions. These databases take the guesswork out of identifying quality interventions by evaluating the trustworthiness and validity of the research behind the interventions. The higher the evidence rating, the more likely the intervention includes systematic, explicit instruction with continuous opportunities for positive corrective feedback.

In addition to these best practices in explicit instruction, students receiving behavioral interventions benefit from pre-corrections; or providing reminders before the student engages in non-preferred tasks to support their application of the preferred response.

➡️ To learn more about supporting students in need of tier 2 support, check out this on-demand webinar

Tier 2 instruction and interventions must be frequently progress monitored through the use of progress monitoring tools.

Students identified as needing interventions should be provided with frequent opportunities to demonstrate progress toward acquiring a particular skill.

Progress monitoring tools provide insight into how well an intervention is supporting a student's growth toward their skill-based goal. Progress monitoring assessments and tools are

These assessments/tools are also often normed, demonstrating how same-age peers perform consistently over time. They are given to students receiving intervention support and are administered at a consistent cadence based on need and as written in the student's plan.

A quick note on Progress Monitoring Assessments and Curriculum-Embedded Assessments...

Before we go any further, I want to clarify a common misconception. Progress monitoring assessments are not to be confused with curriculum embedded assessments.

We use summative and formative assessments ongoing throughout our instruction to gather data on student performance related to a particular learning outcome. These assessments are known as curriculum-embedded assessments. Curriculum-embedded assessments may be a part of your intervention tool or program. Don't confuse these embedded assessments with progress monitoring assessments.

Progress monitoring assessments measure specific skill growth. These tools effectively help us determine if the intervention we have selected is appropriately aligned to the student's skill deficit and if a plan is working. It helps teams have the data to decide on continuing or discontinuing interventions.

➡️ Check out this MTSS Intervention Process Flowchart

Structuring Your MTSS To Support Tier 2 With Fidelity

Tier 2 is challenging and a common trend is skipping it altogether. So how can you ensure your Tier 2 instruction and intervention is available to all staff and any student that needs it?

To ensure we create a system that includes strong Tier 2 instruction and intervention support, we must think about how the resources and people will flow around the building to ensure these interventions are easily and quickly accessible.

Complete a Resource Audit

Resource auditing (or mapping) is not a new technique. Resource mapping helps us align our resources with student needs more efficiently. It's also a clear visual representation of how your MTSS supports learners at various levels.

Round up your resources and lay them out (yep, all of them!) Take time to identify what needs the resource meets and when it should be used. For example, check out the table below for a sample of this resourcing:

Good news: you can use the Branching Minds Resource Audit Worksheet to help your team!

Determine Your Wants and Needs for Your Student Population

Write down your wants for your students and your school. Think about your vision and your beliefs.

Then, work with a team of stakeholders and analyze your data to determine your needs. Consider the following in this list:

Demographics

Population

Geographic location

Access to resources outside of school

Early warning indicators (EWI)

Screening data

Progress monitoring assessment data

Any other pertinent data

Rather than think about individual or small group student needs, think about your data from a larger perspective; that of your allocation of resources, time, and staff.

Reduce, Repurpose, Recycle Your Resources

Once you have completed your audit and determined your wants and needs, you can begin to reduce, repurpose, and recycle (toss!) resources to better align them based on your current constraints and your student and teacher strengths.

narrow and streamline your resources. More does not always mean better! Identify the instructional resources that best match your campus and eliminate the rest. Focus on implementing a few interventions at Tier 2 WELL!

I have worked on many master schedules and position control. Para-professionals and classroom aides are often scheduled along with the same guidelines as a teacher from bell to bell. Be creative. Repurpose staff to provide intervention minutes during transitions and other moments on campus.

Recycle: Is your master schedule stuck in the 90s with RTI? Do you plan for Tier 2 intervention when you design your master schedule, or do you plan for it the first day the need arises? The most dangerous statement I hear is, "that's the way we've always done it!" It's okay to toss programs, resources, schedules, and data sources that aren't serving you or your students.

Once you create an appropriate schedule and align staff, time, and instructional resources, planning to implement Tier 2 interventions with fidelity will be a breeze. All that's left is progress monitoring to ensure your interventions meet your student's needs.

Designing Your MTSS Practice With Tier 2 Data in Mind

Data routines help us identify how well our interventions are working and to what extent we are implementing our plans with fidelity. By answering a few simple questions at our grade level PLC meetings or our school-wide meetings, we can identify if our Tier 2 targeted interventions support identified students in meeting their goals with independence.

Have we identified who needs additional targeted skill support?

Have we grouped students by similar skills or functions?

Are we implementing the plan as it was designed?

What are the progress monitoring data saying about the intervention and skill gap?

As educators, we engage in data routines ongoing throughout the year. But what do we do at the close of the year? Beyond ensuring that students continue to have access to appropriate support over the summer, what can we do with the end-of-year data, especially when considering Tier 2?

Plan for a comprehensive articulation of the student's Tier 2 plans to the next grade level.

Regroup with your MTSS School-Level team and review universal screening data to see how students moved along the tier levels. As students receive Tier 2 interventions, their needs should decrease. Check to see how many of your students that received Tier 2 interventions saw a positive change in their screening scores.

Identify trends from particular interventions that worked for your campus' needs. Perhaps a particular intervention or staff member had more impact than others. Find out why! And extend that work within your master MTSS plan for the following year!

Tried and True Tier 2: Experience From the Field

On a personal note, I have to say Tier 2 has always been my sweet spot. I love to get to know students on a deeper level, and instructing small groups since I have left my classroom has always been an outlet for me.

As I support schools in their MTSS implementation, I love watching teachers and teams smile when they begin to see the bigger picture for Tier 2 through a systems vantage point instead of siloed in their classroom.

The place between Differentiated Tier 1 and Intensive Tier 3 can be a turning point for so many of our students when implemented with fidelity. It's never too late or too early to start planning a systems-level review of your Tier 2 practices.

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What You Need To Know About Utilizing Tier 2 in MTSS

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Tier 2 instruction and interventions should be high-quality, evidence or research-based, and supplemental to core instruction.

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Three districts discuss how Proving Ground helped them gain back instructional days.

Like many districts nationwide, Syracuse City School District in New York was challenged by chronic absenteeism. With over 8,000 students missing one month of school or more in a single school year, the district had a few hypotheses for why their students weren't consistently coming to school. After launching a number of tactics to move the needle on student attendance, Syracuse called for a closer examination of their strategies.

Meanwhile, two groups in Ohio faced similar attendance problems. Roughly 60% of students in East Cleveland City Schools were chronically absent, a contributing factor to the district's third straight "F" on the Ohio School Report Card. Neighboring Maple Heights High School battled chronic absenteeism as well and assumed that because the high school only offered transportation to some students with special needs (whereas K-8 students in the district who lived over two miles away did receive busing services), their attendance problems were linked to the lack of busing.

A complicated issue with a constellation of causes, chronic absenteeism has serious implications for students. Students with higher rates of absenteeism in Syracuse, for example, were shown to have lower test scores in both math and English. And while leaders often recognize the urgency in addressing this issue, many school leaders struggle to know where to start.

While leaders in Syracuse, East Cleveland, and Maple Heights all faced seemingly unique challenges, the first step in solving the problem would be the same for all three groups-these districts needed to understand the root causes of their attendance problems.

Proving Ground uses an evidence-based continuous improvement process to quickly trace a problem to its roots then implement efficient and impactful solutions. "Before doing this kind of root cause analysis," noted Shay Price, Maple Heights High School Principal, "a lot of energy was going into this idea that if we just had buses for our high school students, absenteeism would improve. But after we got our historical analysis and did the root cause analysis with Proving Ground, we saw that most of the students who were majorly absent lived within two miles of the school or closer. We really saw the danger in making assumptions about a problem's cause. "

After providing Proving Ground with 3-4 years of longitudinal data, leaders in East Cleveland also hoped for helpful insights."The reasons for chronic absenteeism in our schools run a gamut," noted Tom Domzalski, Director of Data Research and Assessment at East Cleveland City Schools. "We saw a range of causes from lack of awareness and lack of infrastructure in the home to fragile medical or trauma-filled situations." However, Proving Ground was able to reveal spikes in absenteeism in Kindergarten and 9th grade, giving East Cleveland an opportunity to focus their efforts.

Leaders in Syracuse had conducted a root cause analysis prior to their work with Proving Ground to test their hypotheses for student absences. Patterns of absenteeism in this district were pervasive, with high rates in grades K-1, middle school, and high school. With data, these leaders linked student absences to certain geographic areas (students on the west side of the district tended toward more absences) as well as personal situations (homeless students were almost 24 percentage points higher in chronic absenteeism.)

Once these districts better understood the nature of chronic absenteeism of their students, the next step was to envision what high-yield, low-investment interventions could look like. In short, they looked for the low-hanging fruit.

In Maple Heights, they decided to increase awareness of the importance of attendance in parents through robocalls. "Many parents don't realize how absences add up in terms of loss of instruction," said Meghan Shelby, the district's Director of Special Pupil Services. "So we devised a plan to reach out to parents via phone once a student missed three days of school in a school year." While this simple intervention wouldn't likely move the needle for the school's most chronically absent students, the school did see success in increasing attendance for a subset of students who simply didn't realize the value of consistent attendance.

Syracuse City School District, who already had a background in digging into root causes, was surprised when Proving Ground revealed that a widely-supported intervention didn't, in the end, work. "Home visits were something we had done for years in our district, so we continued to make them to tackle chronic absenteeism in the first year of our partnership with Proving Ground," explained Nicole Brec, District Data Liaison in Syracuse. A heavy lift for those involved, these home visits took place over the summer and targeted the previous year's chronically absent students. "The way Proving Ground helped us monitor the data for this intervention allowed us to determine that the intervention wasn't yielding the results we wanted or needed."

Thus, Syracuse changed course and developed an awareness campaign similar to that of Maple Heights, sending postcards to the families of students in grades K-2. "The postcards were low effort, but high impact," continued Nicole. "When a student missed a day of school, the teacher would send a postcard home by mail. We were surprised to see the impact postcards could have on attendance."

For these three districts, tackling chronic absenteeism was not a small hill to climb. "The greatest impact of our work with Proving Ground was learning how to think critically and creatively about the problems we face and their causes," said Henry Pettiegrew II, East Cleveland's CEO and Superintendent. "At the time, our district was data rich but information poor. We'd look at the data and admire the problem, try some things, then admire the problem again. What Proving Ground did was give us a framework for thinking critically about the problem and finding solutions that were as high impact and low effort as possible. "

Because of this framework, these districts, among many others in the Proving Ground network, are moving the needle on chronic absenteeism across the country. East Cleveland quickly devised and executed two effective messaging interventions: postcards to parents of elementary students and robocalls for secondary students. Maple Heights also saw success with robocalls, and Syracuse improved their attendance through postcards, energy-bill-style letters and, later, mentorships. Working together with Proving Ground, districts in the Proving Ground network have saved a total of 154,000 instructional days.

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Tackling Chronic Absenteeism through Continuous Improvement

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Three districts discuss how Proving Ground helped them gain back instructional days. Like many districts nationwide, Syracuse City School District in New York was challenged by chronic absenteeism. With over 8,000 students missing one month of school or more in a single school year, the district ha…

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You will need to register to view this on-demand webcast from Education Week, entitled "When SEL Curriculum is Not Enough: Integrating Social Emotional Behavior Supports in MTSS".

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When SEL Curriculum Is Not Enough: Integrating Social-Emotional Behavior Supports in MTSS

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Tuesday, August 09, 2022 at 2:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

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Multi-Tiered Approach to Family Engagement

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Multi-Tiered Approach to Family Engagement

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Ohio's Statewide Family Engagement Center

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Multi-Tiered Approach to Family Engagement - Ohio’s Statewide Family Engagement Center

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Schools often organize their work into tiers – Universal Tier 1 supports for all students, Targeted Tier 2 supports for subsets of students needing some additional support, and Intensive Tier 3 supports for individual students needing the most guidance. Schools can also think about their work with s…

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America is currently at the center of a literacy crisis. New data from districts across the nation shows that students are incredibly behind in reading, and increasingly high percentages of students require immediate and intensive reading

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Implementing MTSS in Secondary Schools: Challenges and Strategies

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Implementing MTSS in Secondary Schools: Challenges and Strategies

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Packed with strategies! Sample schedules for extra help, guidance on selecting interventions, using early warning indicators, professional development MTSS topics for teachers, and grouping students for interventions.

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11/17/22- Chapter 4: A Continuum of Tiered Supports (must sign in with a Solution Tree account/password)

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A School and District Framework for Meeting Students' Academic and Social-Emotional Needs

From research to experience, authors Matt Navo and Amy Williams offer a doable framework for multitiered system of supports (MTSS) that supports every student's diverse needs. This pragmatic approach gives collaborative leadership teams the tools to implement sustainable processes to address the whole child.
Benefits

Examine the four components of the MTSS framework and how they integrate to form a cohesive approach.

Discover how to design and implement high-quality MTSS throughout your school and district.

Learn how to build optimal building- and district-level teams that move beyond traditional leadership roles to include a variety of practitioners.

Explore how to most effectively engage in cycles of continuous improvement as collaborative teams to ensure learning for all.

Receive reproducible tools and templates to develop and evaluate MTSS systems.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: A Comprehensive MTSS Model
Chapter 2: Collaborative Leadership
Chapter 3: Universal Access
Chapter 4: A Continuum of Tiered Supports
Chapter 5: Data-Based Decision Making
Chapter 6: Continuous Improvement for Sustaining MTSS
Epilogue: Toward a Cohesive Approach

PRINTABLE REPRODUCIBLES

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Epilogue

SUGGESTED RESOURCES
Books

Buffum, A., Mattos, M., & Malone, J. (2018). Taking action: A handbook for RTI at Work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Buffum, A., Mattos, M., & Weber, C. (2009). Pyramid response to intervention: RTI, professional learning communities, and how to respond when kids don't learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2006). Learning by doing: A handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (1st ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. W., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: A handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (3rd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Mattos, M., & Muhammad, A. (2021). Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work: Proven insights for sustained, substantive school improvement (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Friziellie, H., Schmidt, J. A., & Spiller, J. (2016). Yes we can! General and special educators collaborating in a professional learning community. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Kamphaus, R. W., & Reynolds, C. R. (2015). BASC-3 behavioral and emotional screening system. Bloomington, MN: Pearson Clinical Assessment.

Muhammad, A., & Cruz, L. F. (2019). Time for change: Four essential skills for transformational school and district leaders. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Reeves, D. (2021). Deep change leadership: A model for renewing and strengthening schools and districts. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Rogers, P., Smith, W. R., Buffum, A., & Mattos, M. (2020). Best practices at Tier 3: Intensive interventions for remediation, elementary. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Websites

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One of the leading K-12 education companies, Solution Tree offers professional development, online courses, and education books for teachers. Solution Tree works to raise student achievement and performance by providing customizable tools and strategies that empower educators and further teacher education.

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National Center on Intensive Intervention

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National Center on Intensive Intervention

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Highlights various types of interventions most effective for improving student outcomes in English language arts, mathematics, behavior, and social-emotional learning.

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Successful implementation of intensive intervention using data-based individualization (DBI) is more likely to occur in schools that have a well-functioning tiered system of support, commonly called a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS), response to intervention (RTI), or positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), depending on your location and area of focus. Intensive intervention is considered the most intense level of intervention and also may be known as Tier 3.

DBI is an approach to intensive intervention that builds on the lower tiers of the system. The quality and fidelity of Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports, the use of valid and reliable progress monitoring measures, and the implementation of data-based decision rules and data meeting structures essential to MTSS set the foundation for successful implementation of intensive intervention through DBI.

Districts and schools working with NCII from 2011 to 2016 found that solid Tier 1 and Tier 2 foundations allowed staff to focus efforts on DBI implementation. Specifically, they were able to more easily identify and target the small group of students (only about 3 to 5 percent of a school's population) who needed intensive intervention. They noted that, at times, it was necessary to go back and refine their Tier 1 and 2 systems in order to better focus on the students with the most severe and persistent needs. Read the full report to learn more about lessons learned to support implementing intensive intervention.

Tools and Resources Related to MTSS and Intensive Intervention

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Multi-Tiered System of Supports: Intensive Intervention| NCII

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Learn about data-based individualization tools and resources related to the relationship between intensive intervention and multi-tiered system of supports.

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This interactive alignment tool, developed in collaboration with CEEDAR, identifies which IRIS resources provide information on HLPs.

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Developed by the Council for Exceptional Children and the CEEDAR Center, high-leverage practices are 22 essential special education techniques that all K-12 special education teachers should master for use across a variety of classroom contexts. Learn more about these practices in the guidance document High-Leverages Practices in Special Education.

This interactive alignment tool, developed in collaboration with CEEDAR, identifies which IRIS resources provide information on HLPs.

The IRIS Center Peabody College Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 37203 [email protected]. The IRIS Center is funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Grant #H325E220001. The contents of this website do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Sarah Allen.

Copyright 2024 Vanderbilt University. All rights reserved.

* For refund and privacy policy information visit our Help & Support page.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Developed by the Council for Exceptional Children and the CEEDAR Center, high-leverage practices are 22 essential special education techniques that all K-12 special education teachers should master for use across a variety of classroom contexts. Learn more about these practices in the guidance document High-Leverages Practices in Special Education.

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Provides educators with information to make evidence-based decisions.

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As an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) was created in 2002 to be a central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education.

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High-Leverage Practices in Special Education

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High-Leverage Practices in Special Education

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In this publication, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the CEEDAR Center highlight four domains that research demonstrates can improve student achievement, regardless of content. (Collaboration, Assessment, Social-emotional and behavioral support, and Instruction)

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Secondary Data Culture and MTSS Leadership (Lakota)

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Secondary Data Culture and MTSS Leadership (Lakota)

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Secondary Data Culture and MTSS leadership

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MTSS in Secondary Schools: Major Challenges and How to Overcome Them

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MTSS in Secondary Schools: Major Challenges and How to Overcome Them

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Secondary teachers and leaders often cite difficulties and frustrations when they are asked about their current RTI/MTSS practice or implementation. My own experience with this work started when a district-level administrator walked into my office (about 2 seconds into my first year as a high school Asst. Principal) and dropped off a thick binder titled MTSS (that used to be titled RTI) . Here you go. Run with this and see what you can do. MTSS? In high school? Why, how?

Some leaders don't see the point of MTSS in secondary schools and think of it as a framework that belongs in elementary schools. Others understand the importance of implementing a strong practice, but when they take steps towards establishing the structures and procedures they meet many challenges and quickly get frustrated, which was my experience almost immediately.

Though implementing MTSS at the secondary level can present unique considerations and complications not present at the elementary level, it is a worthy endeavor that will inevitably lead to improved student outcomes, including decreased behavior incidents, improved student achievement, and increased student graduation rates.

MTSS at both the elementary and the secondary level is a proactive and preventative framework that grounds all decisions on data. The main components are the same for both:

1. Core instruction should meet the needs of 80% of students.

2. Valid and reliable universal screeners should be administered to all students; enabling professionals to identify those at risk and provide differentiation to diverse learners.

3. Student support plans should be created based on data, key indicators of success and evidence-based strategies, programs and practices.

4. Consistent problem-solving meetings should be scheduled to review progress monitoring of student data and make adjustments to the intervention plan.

5. The work needs to be collaborative and aligned across all stakeholders.

MTSS Framework

Common Challenges Implementing MTSS at the Secondary Level and How to Overcome Them

1. In the absence of trained interventionists, teachers should be provided with research-based programs and trained in strategies to help students with elementary grade performance levels. Some examples of programs or strategies are Read 180, The challenge: Secondary school teachers see themselves as content experts and are not trained in teaching basic skills. Unlike elementary school teachers, secondary teachers become more specialized in their content areas. "I don't teach Reading, though, I teach Chemistry." How many times have you heard something similar from teachers? Bottom line is, though, that when students are missing basic math or literacy skills, they will not be successful in any content areas or courses. If a student has difficulty reading, that student will struggle in Chemistry and Government. Though teachers do not consider themselves reading teachers, they are not meeting their students' needs unless they address these basic reading skills.

The solution: Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention , Click or Clunk? , and Reciprocal Teaching. The assumption that teachers will be able to provide adequate support simply because they are educators is just not accurate. An hour of tutoring can be a complete waste of time if the tutor is not using the right strategies.

2. The challenge: Secondary students are often not engaged in their growth and learning. Students should be empowered to monitor their growth and be active participants in their own learning. This can be especially difficult for students who have experienced years of failure. Schools should always work on providing a culture of student motivation, engagement, and participation.

The solution: One common best practice is to provide students with a goal and progress monitor tracker, and to ensure these trackers become a part of their daily routines(*). As a high school administrator, I would often approach students and ask them their goals. They would pull out their tracker and show me their progress. Do they know their goals for their end-of-course exams? Do they know what credits they are missing for graduation? Do they know what learning objectives they need to focus on?

3. To meet graduation requirements, students need to earn specific credits. Different states will often offer several graduation plan options, college and career readiness programs, and student electives. Balancing all of this makes scheduling a nightmare.The challenge: Secondary school scheduling is incredibly complex.

The solution: District and school leaders need to be flexible and creative when planning intervention times. Some districts use homeroom or WYN (what you need) periods, some pull students out of electives, and others ask students to come in before or after school. These decisions will vary greatly, and there are many factors to consider in each district, but ensuring students have intervention time in their schedules is critical.

4. The challenge: Students are often so far behind, that interventions can feel pointless. As a young teacher working with at-risk high school students, I was guilty of this. My students had such large gaps that I often felt powerless. If I felt this after working with my students for just one year, imagine how frustrated these students felt after experiencing these frustrations and failures for so many years.

The solution: In addition to providing academic interventions, it is critical that we provide teachers with the skills to address student motivation after failure, and that we work on developing a growth mindset for these students. Small successes are incredibly powerful and easily achievable if we make the time to provide the support these students need.

The solutions needed to achieve effective MTSS at the secondary level will always vary as the factors that lead to success from campus to campus are complex and unique. However, having a strong implementation plan that considers these common challenges is a great place to start.

(*) C.A Farrington et. al., Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners. The Role of Noncognitive Factors in Shaping School Performance: A Critical Literature Review (Chicago: University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, 2012), 10.

Ready to build capacity for your educators, and deliver positive outcomes for all students?

Learn about the Branching Minds Infrastructure Coaching Series, that helps school and district leaders streamline and improve their RTI/MTSS practice at the systems-level, helping them to achieve consistent high-fidelity practice, build capacity for educators, and deliver positive outcomes for all students.

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MTSS in Secondary Schools: Major Challenges, and How to Overcome Them

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Though implementing MTSS at the secondary level can present unique considerations and complications not present at the elementary level, it is a worthy endeavor that will inevitably lead to improved student outcomes

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Much of our knowledge of the components of MTSS and their successful implementation is based on experiences in elementary schools. However, given the structural and organizational differences between elementary schools and secondary schools, this evidence has its limitations when implementing MTSS at higher grade levels. The essential components of MTSS may be the same, regardless of grade level or context, but how they are translated into effective practice and integrated into a middle or high school's processes may differ from elementary school models.

Implementing an early warning system to identify students who may be at risk for poor educational outcomes and providing targeted supports is one way that secondary schools may consider implementing MTSS. AIR's Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System (EWIMS) is an evidence-based process for identifying and monitoring students who are likely to miss key education milestones and provide supports to help get them back on track (Faria et al., 2017). It is important to emphasize that students are not identified based on their demographics (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, status as an English learner) or other unchangeable factors (e.g., students with disability, socioeconomic status, member of a single-parent household). Rather, students are identified for demonstrating one or more mutable early warning indicators (e.g., attendance rate, inappropriate behaviors, or poor course performance).

EWIMS is a systematic approach used by dedicated teams of school staff to identify students displaying symptoms of at risk of not graduating on time, assign students to interventions, and monitor their progress. Schools use data every day-the challenge is to turn the data into meaningful actions and positive student outcomes. By following the 7 steps of the EWIMS process, educators can turn their data into action. The EWIMS process helps educators in early identification of students who are not on track for on-time high school graduation, postsecondary readiness, or other milestones, and then guides educators through evidence-based steps to get those students back on track. By acting early, and then continuously gauging and fine-tuning support, educators following the EWIMS process can efficiently help more students succeed.

Step 1-Establish roles and responsibilities. Schools establish a team to lead and carry out the EWIMS process, determine the frequency and duration of meetings, and develop a shared vision for the team's work.

Step 2-Use the tool. The EWIMS team uses the tool to update lists of available interventions and strategies to support students and run automated or customized reports.

Step 3-Review the early warning data. The EWIMS team focuses their attention on student- and school-level data, using a combination of research-based and locally validated indicators available in the tool. This data review process is intended to identify areas of focus and further investigation and this step is revisited any time new data become available.

Step 4-Interpret the early warning data. The EWIMS team seeks out additional data (besides the indicators) to better understand the needs of individual students or groups of students. This step focuses on the underlying causes that might lead students to be identified as at risk on one or more indicators, using additional formal data (administrative records) and informal input (from teachers, family, and students).

Step 5-Assign and provide interventions. The EWIMS team members make decisions about assigning individual students to specific interventions in the school, district, and community. The EWIMS model does not prescribe specific interventions for schools to implement. Rather, the model provides schools flexibility to decide which interventions are best suited to their students' needs.

Step 6-Monitor student progress. The EWIMS team examines the student risk indicators on an ongoing basis to monitor the progress of students who have already been assigned to interventions. If students continue to be identified as off track, the team may consider assigning them to different interventions; if some students are no longer at risk, the team may consider ramping down services. Over time, schools may refine their catalog of interventions based on their effectiveness, adding new interventions and dropping those that do not help students get back on track.

Step 7-Evaluate and refine the EWIMS process. Through active and structured reflection, EWIMS team members revise specific strategies or their general approach as needed and determine how best to allocate resources to support at-risk students. This step encourages EWIMS teams to make course corrections to any aspect of implementation.

To learn more about our early warning intervention and monitoring system (EWIMS) process and MTSS, please visit: https://www.air.org/resource/early-warning-systems-education.

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Much of our knowledge of the components of MTSS and their successful implementation is based on experiences in elementary schools. However, given the structural and organizational differences between elementary schools and secondary schools, this evidence has its limitations when implementing MTSS at higher grade levels.

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Self-Assessment of MTSS Implementation (SAM)

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Self-Assessment of MTSS Implementation (SAM)

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Essential Components of MTSS | Center on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

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A multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) is a proactive and preventative framework that integrates data and instruction to maximize student achievement and support students social, emotional, and behavior needs from a strengths-based perspective. MTSS offers a framework for educators to engage in data-based decision making related to program improvement, high-quality instruction and intervention, social and emotional learning, and positive behavioral supports necessary to ensure positive outcomes for districts, schools, teachers, and students. The MTSS framework is comprised of four essential components: screening, progress monitoring, multi-level prevention system, and data-based decision making. Depending on state law, MTSS data may also support identification of students with learning or other disabilities.

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MTSS Ultimate Guide from Branching Minds

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MTSS Ultimate Guide from Branching Minds

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What Is MTSS? Multi-Tiered System of Supports Ultimate Guide - Branching Minds

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What Is MTSS? This comprehensive MTSS guide answers this question and covers all the essential elements of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports. Read more.

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MTSS: A Framework for Meeting the Instructional Needs of All Learners

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MTSS: A Framework for Meeting the Instructional Needs of All Learners

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The use of a tiered problem-solving model, with each tier differentiated by the intensity of services provided, is at the heart of all MTSS models.

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Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) | Ohio Leadership Advisory Council