1. MTSS

2. Critical Components of MTSS
Data Evaluation
Problem Solving Process
Multiple Tiers of Instruction & Intervention
Leadership
Capacity Building Infrastructure
Communication& Collaboration
There are key components that form the foundation of the MTSS framework. These are…. (read list). Each will be briefly discussed in the following slides.

3. Problem-Solving Consistent 4-step PS process
Data Evaluation
Problem Solving Process
Multiple Tiers of Instruction & Intervention
Leadership
Capacity Building Infrastructure
Communication & Collaboration
Problem-Solving
Consistent 4-step PS process
The 4-step problem-solving model involves:
Step 1: Define, in objective and measurable terms, the goal(s) to be attained
Step 2: Identify possible reasons why the desired goal(s) is not being attained.
Step 3: Develop & implement a well-supported plan involving evidence-based strategies to attain the goal(s)
Step 4: Evaluate the effectiveness of the plan in relation to stated goals.
Education decisions (e.g. intervention effectiveness) are measured by student growth
Collaborative Team-based
Decision protocols; decision-rules
Frequency & intensity of assessment & problem solving match to student need
Problem-Solving - MTSS is driven by a 4 step problem-solving model. This model is an iterative, self-correcting approach to treatment of educational problems. Through the four steps: problem identification, problem analysis, intervention development and evaluation, this model provides a thinking structure which framing school-based problems, for analyzing etiologies of these problems and for testing and determining effective solutions (Tilly, 2008).

4. Data Evaluation Integrated data system
Problem Solving Process
Multiple Tiers of Instruction & Intervention
Leadership
Capacity Building Infrastructure
Communication & Collaboration
Data Evaluation
Integrated data system
Comprehensive efficient and user-friendly data system for decision-making
Evaluation of effectiveness of interventions and fidelity of implementation
Use of valid and reliable assessments from a variety of sources
Ongoing assessment of student learning

5. What Elements MUST Be Present to Have and Integrated MTSS Model?
Academic Skills and Academic Behaviors are identified for all students (Skill Integration)
The data are presented in a way that reflects the relationship between academic skills and behaviors(Data Integration)
The instruction provided in Tier 1 integrates the effective instructional strategies and performance expectations from Tiers 2 and 3 (Tier Integration)
The instruction provided in Tiers 2 and 3 integrates Tier 1 instruction (materials, performance expectations.) (Tier Integration)

6. “Problem-solving/RtI does not ‘start’ and ‘end’ like the traditional ‘pre-referral’ process. It is an ongoing, cyclical way of work that applies to all students enrolled in school and continues for students who are receiving special education and related services.”
~Florida DOE Technical Assistance Paper for SLD Eligibility
Table chat: talk with your table about what this statement means to you, how your belief is the same or different from the beliefs held by your district as a whole.
RtI is not ‘started’ for students who are struggling nor is it ‘ended’ for students who do better, if they become ESE eligible, etc.
RtI is a way of work for all students and every student; beginning when they enter our schools, and ending only when they leave.
(Florida PS/RtI Project, 2007)

7. Specially Designed Instruction
Tier 1 – Student learning and progress on grade level standards are the purpose of providing SDI
Tier 2 – SDI is implemented when small groups of students are receiving supplemental interventions to address a specific need for explicit practice in a targeted skill
Tier 3 – distinction between tier 3 and SDI:
SDI is a set of services entitled to on IEP applying IDEA, but pedagogy is the same (individualized).

8. Tiered Supports

9. Infrastructure Necessary for Tiered Instruction- District Level
Leadership
MTSS vision/mission aligned with the District Improvement and Assistance Plan (DIAP)
Multi-departmental leadership team (DLT)
MTSS implementation plan
Data-Based Problem Solving
Data-based problem solving
Knowledge & Fidelity
Communication Collaboration
Communicated expectations and accountability
Capacity Building
Organized and strategic capacity building district- wide for implementation
Multiple Tiers of Support
Resource allocation
Data Evaluation
Program evaluation

10. Considerations for Scheduling District Level
Communication of expectations and accountability for intervention time within the school day
Determine acceptable models for scheduling of intervention time K-12
Determine dissemination points
Build capacity of staff through professional development
Determine method of accountability
MTSS plans
Observations
Principal meeting reports

11. Considerations for Scheduling Building-Level
Creating common time for intervention/ re- teach/enrich to allow for maximum staff availability- may require creativity
Consider where time can be created:
Shave time off of each period
Must consider instructional time requirements
Reduce time for lunch
Reduce transition times between periods
Easier if students clustered in grade-level areas of building
Use of A/B schedules
Structured active lunch
Skinnies

12. Infrastructure Necessary for Tiered Instruction- Building Level
Leadership
MTSS vision/mission aligned with the School Improvement Plan (SIP)
School-based leadership team
MTSS implementation plan
Data-Based Problem Solving
Data-based problem solving
Communication and Collaboration
Communicated expectations and accountability
Capacity Building/Infrastructure
Organized and strategic capacity building for implementation
Master schedule that allows time for data collection
Master schedule that allows time for collaboration
Master schedule that allows time for multiple tiers of intervention
Multiple Tiers of Support
Resource allocation
Materials, personnel, etc
Data Evaluation
Program evaluation
Self Assessment of MTSS Implementation (SAM)

13. Characteristics of Tier 2

14. Purpose and Characteristics
The purpose of Tier 2 instruction and supports is to improve Tier 1 performance (levels and conditions of performance)
Considered successful when 70% of students meet or exceed core expectations
Problem solving focus is on instruction
Implement evidence-based instruction & interventions matched to specific needs(s)

15. Purpose and Characteristics cont.
More intense (additional time, narrow focus of instruction/intervention, smaller group size)
Provided by a variety of professionals (e.g., general education and/or intervention teachers, behavior specialists) in any setting (general education, separate setting)
Number of minutes are in addition to Tier 1, total amount student receives (Tier 1 & Tier 2) based on number of minutes all students receive Tier 1 supports

17. Progress Monitoring Basics
A process of collecting data at pre-specified regular intervals to:
Determine intervention effectiveness
Individual
Group
Inform instructional decision making
Data collection tools should be:
Directly linked to the skills taught
Easy/efficient to administer
Sensitive to small changes
Allow for visual representation of the data (graphing)
Baseline
Aim line
Trend line
Students are monitored on proximal and distal goals
Specific skills/content taught
Progress towards grade-level expectations

18. Progress Monitoring Data Sources Examples
Curriculum Based Measurement
AimsWeb
DIBELS
FAIR FS
Skill-based probes
Easy CBM
FL-ELFAS
Daily Behavior Ratings
Point sheets
Self Monitoring Checklists/Rubrics
Observations
Daily/Per Period Attendance
Discipline Incidents
ODRs

19. Progress Monitoring
If a pattern exists, evaluate student growth through examination of last 3-5 data points relative to aim line
Positive response- rate of growth (slope) of trend line matches or exceeds aim line
The gap between current and expected performance is closing or has closed
Poor/Negative response- rate of growth (slope) of the trend line is flatter than aim line
The gap between current and expected performance is widening
Questionable response- rate of growth (slope) of the trend line is parallel to aim line
The gap between current and expected performance remains consistent it is neither decreasing or increasing

20. Progress Monitoring Response Visual
Harlarcher, Sakelaris, Kattleman (2014)

21. Purpose & Characteristics of Tier 3 Supports

22. Purpose and Characteristics
The purpose of Tier 3 services is to help students overcome significant barriers to learning academic and/or behavior skills required for school success.
Tier 3-Function is to reduce/eliminate barriers
If time is NOT increased, it is NOT Tier 3
Need a cycle where there is a greater than 1:1 response
Change predisposition for wrong answers
The expected outcome of Tier 3 supports, combined with Tiers 1 and 2, is that the student(s) will achieve Tier 1 proficiency levels (academic and/or behavior) established by the district.
What “few” students receive and is the most intense service level a school can provide to a student.
Provided to very small groups and/or individual students.
All problem-solving considers academic and behavior (engagement) together in the context of universal design

23. Purpose and Characteristics
Tier 3 supports require more time and a more narrow focus of instruction/intervention than Tier 2 supports.
Tier 3 supports require effective levels of collaboration and coordination among the staff (general and specialized) providing services to the student.
Provided to students who demonstrate both intense needs (large gap in expected versus current performance) and severe learning problems (unresponsive to intervention)
Guided practice and corrective feedback
Intervention is best implemented as a component of a continuous system (MTSS)

24. Purpose and Characteristics
The larger the gap, educators are less likely to assume an instructional issue
It’s about pedagogy
Requires tremendous flexibility
Teacher and students’ self-regulation of effective practices

25. Refined Analytic Hypotheses

26. Refined Analytic Hypotheses
The use of hypotheses frameworks or heuristics can help refine hypothesis generation to allow for better match of intervention to need:
ICEL (Instruction Curriculum Environment Learner)
Christ & Aranas (2014) in Best Practices VI
Daly et al., (1997) five reasons
Instructional hierarchy

27. ICEL Instruction-how skills are taught
Pacing
Opportunities to respond
Activities
Practice opportunities
Review
Curriculum- what skills are taught
Content
Skill level
Environment-where skills are taught
Classroom management strategies
Engagement strategies
Negative to positive ratios
Classroom stimuli
Exposure to peers
Learner-to whom the skills are taught
Health history
Schooling history
Personal history
Beliefs
Interests

28. Christ & Aranas (2014) Analytical Hypotheses
Poor instructional match
Pacing
Feedback
Low exposure to instruction
Attendance
Opportunities to practice
Poor curricular match
Material instructional level
Inaccurate critical skills
Lack of fluency with critical skills
Pacing
Feedback
Opportunities to practice
Low motivation
Incentives
Engagement strategies

29. Behavioral Approach & Team Based Supports

30. Behavioral Approach
Seeks to understand the context surrounding the presence or absence of behavior and the function the behavior serves
Antecedents
Triggering events
Behavior
Consequences
Responses that follow the problem behavior

31. Can’t Do/Won’t Do

32. Can’t Do/Won’t Do
Provides data to differentiate the type of interventions students may need to be successful
Environmental contingencies
Skill building interventions
Combination
Often used with CBM measures
Quick and efficient to administer
Individual
Whole group

33. Can’t Do/Won’t Do Steps
Analyze universal screening data to identify students who scored within the at-risk range
Determine contingency reinforcers to be offered
Gather measure administered in universal screening
Provide student with standardized directions on requirements for earning reinforcement
Allow student to select reinforcement option
Administer measure
Provide selected reinforcement for students who improve their previous scores
VanDerHeyden (2014)

34. Team Based Supports
Students with multiple or intense needs may need layered or wraparound supports
Determine external providers that may need to be included in team process
Medical
Community
Mental Health
Determine the extent of student needs: academic, physical, behavioral/mental health
Academic diagnostics
FBA
Mental health assessment
Medical reports

35. Team Based Supports Continued
Determine if there is expertise within the current team or within the district and state (projects/agencies) to meet student needs
If yes, schedule coordinated team meeting and develop comprehensive intervention and communication/collaboration plan
If no, determine district collaborators to connect directly with or refer student/family to
Schedule coordinated team meeting and develop comprehensive intervention and communication/collaboration plan

36. Examples of Behaviors/Conditions That May Require Additional Expertise
A Blueprint for Tier 3 Implementation: A Results Driven System for Supporting Students with Serious Problem Behaviors (2014)

37. Daly et al., (1997) 5 Common Factors that Affect Student Performance
They don’t want to do it (motivation)
They haven’t spent enough time doing it (practice/academic engaged time)
They have not had enough help doing it- poor accuracy fluency, or generalization (feedback & support)
They have not had to do it that way before (modeling)
It is too hard (material/skill level mismatch)

38. Instructional Hierarchy- Stages to Mastery
Accuracy/Acquisition- skills are just being developed
Requires modeling, prompting, opportunities to practice and corrective feedback
Fluency- skills are developed but slow and laborious
Requires opportunities to practice in generalized context with reinforcement
Generalization- skills are mastered with fluency
Requires opportunities to practice in new contexts, settings with new materials
Adaptation- skills are to be modified for use in novel situations
Requires opportunities to practice in novel situation

39. Curriculum Based Evaluation

40. Curriculum Based Evaluation (CBE)
Systematic inquiry/problem-solving process (aligned to 4- step model) that walks educators through a series of action steps with the use of if/then statements to determine
What skills are missing
How to teach them
Designed to be utilized across content areas/domains
Begins with survey level analysis
Determines areas in need of more in-depth assessment
Followed by specific level assessment
Pinpoints specific missing skills

41. CBE Process of Inquiry
Problem Analysis
Intervention
Problem ID
Used with permission from: Hosp, Hosp, Howell, Allison (2014)
Monitor Progress

42. CBE Resources
ABC’s of Curriculum Based Evaluation A Practical Guide to Effective Decision Making- Hosp, Hosp, Howell, Allison (2014)
Practitioners Guide to Curriculum Based Evaluation in Reading- Harlacher, Sakelaris, Kattleman (2014)
Curriculum Based Evaluation: Teaching and Decision Making- Howell (1999, 2002)
Student Study Guide and Workbook for Curriculum- Based Evaluation: Teaching and Decision Making- Howell & Nolet (1999)

43. Intensive Interventions Resources
Days 1-3 httpfloridarti.usf.edu/resources/training_ modules/intensive_interventions/index.ht ml://
Days 4 & dditional+Readings+and+Resources