Chapter 1
A Comprehensive MTSS Model
©️2023 by Solution Tree Press
William Edwards Deming, considered by many to be the father of continuous improvement, is quoted as saying that education is a field characterized by “miracle goals and no methods” (as cited in Bryk, 2020, p. 3). This quote reflects the idea that if we fail to develop effective improvement strategies, the results we want will be unlikely to materialize. In our experience, when a system fails to produce improvement, people tend to blame the user (in education, this means parents, teachers, leaders, or even students). However, we argue that this failure to improve is often symptomatic of poorly constructed methods or approaches. As described in the introduction, the numerous manifestations of MTSS can cause confusion for educators trying to implement this framework. Building an MTSS framework is complicated. It involves the voices of multiple educational partners, community members, educators, and researchers. Often, the complexity of this endeavor prompts users to respond in one of two ways: (1) we are not ready for this, or (2) we have already done this. Rather than blaming the user, we endeavor to design a better system where all users of the system can find success. In this chapter, we present a four-part MTSS framework that includes the core elements yet is simple enough to understand and customize for various contexts. To lay the foundation for what we cover in this chapter, we define MTSS for our purposes as a holistic framework that uses collaborative leadership structures to create a universally accessible instructional framework and includes a continuum of tiered supports that depend on evidence-based practices and data analysis to improve student outcomes. This definition encapsulates the four elements essential for building an MTSS framework that we discuss in this chapter.
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