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Summary

Think about these and their order as you would think about the steps you would engage in when planning any journey. You can ensure a successful (and enjoyable) outcome by identifying the endpoint, the stops along the way, and the best route to take, as well as by checking key indicators. The same is true of the journey to developing and enhancing your MTSS approach. The order of each chapter will effectively and efficiently guide schools in their initial or ongoing MTSS efforts. The following sections address each chapter’s approach.

Chapter 1: What Practices and Elements Make Up Tier 1?

Every successful journey has a most important aspect. Maybe it’s the car you’re driving, the extra legroom on the flight, or the accommodations. In education— specifically in a well-defined MTSS plan—the most important aspect is the school’s Tier 1 instruction and assessment practices for behavior and academics. A standards-driven, well-defined Tier 1 informs all of MTSS. It is the piece that determines whether MTSS efforts will lead to success.

A deep understanding of mapping, instruction, and assessment in academic and behavioral domains will ensure more students learn at a deeper level during core blocks of instruction. Without addressing equity and access in core programs; without focused, viable, and well-defined curricular units; and without collaborative planning, educators will neither make significant gains in the number of students adequately responding to core instruction nor ensure all students learn at the levels of depth and complexity necessary to graduate from high school ready for college or a skilled career.

Chapter 2: What Practices Make Up Tier 2 and Tier 3?

Planning a successful journey involves knowing the priorities of everyone on the trip, the budget that is available, and the time that can be allotted. Educators working to effect change in their schools also need to know who’s with them and what skills those people have, and the money, time periods, and resources available to them. They must proactively address logistical questions related to school processes to ensure that the knowing-doing gap (the frustrating difference between knowing the shift that needs to occur and successfully implementing the shift) is closed.

This chapter addresses the following questions.

• Which students and student needs require more attention? • Which staff members are best positioned to provide supports?

• When will these supports be provided in the school day? • Where will these supports be provided? • What resources, strategies, or programs are necessary to meet staff and student needs?

When schools address these questions, they are well on their way to establishing the critical structures of MTSS.

Chapter 3: Where Are We and What Are the Next Steps?

Every journey has a starting point, and to figure out where you need to go and to plan your journey, you need to know where you are right now. Before embarking on a new practice, it is important for educators to take a detailed look at what they are currently doing. A school’s starting point can be established by using an evidence-based self-analysis of that school’s current realities and state of readiness. This status report will reveal gaps and overlaps and initiate the collaborative approach necessary to refine or overhaul current practices.

Several factors must be taken into consideration at the start of any journey, including the mode of travel, the time required, and where the stops will be. As a school embarks on a process of change, it’s important to think about questions such as, Where are we going? and Where are we now? Schools will strategically select next steps to address the areas of greatest need for staff and students.

A collaborative examination of the evidence from chapters 1 and 2 can help guide schools in their first steps or next steps. Several questions can guide this examination.

• In what areas do students need the most support? • In what areas would staff members benefit from more support? • Which initiatives would most significantly benefit students and most impact multiple content areas and domains? • What initiatives are best prepared for, both in terms of culture and structures?

Chapter 4: What Stops Do We Make Along the Way?

To help avoid the ubiquitous question, Are we there yet?, the most successful trip planners build in the capacity to shift on the fly. They do this by allowing time in the schedule to spend an extra night at a favorite stop or to deal with flat

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