MTSS: Demystifying the 8th Wonder (Educational) World: Part I - Defining Terms

What is MTSS? Based on the many conversations I've had with leaders across the country, it could very well stand for "Misconceptions Throughout School Systems" or "Miscellaneous Tools to Support Students." It's really not the fault of anyone in particular, though, as education is filled with more than its fair share of acronyms (RtI and PBIS as relevant examples) and new initiatives that are not always implemented with clarity, integrity, and fidelity.

Understanding MTSS is of particular value given its perceived emphasis as a result of language in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) signed in to law in 2015 by President Obama as the successor to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). I say "perceived" because although the term "multi-tiered system of supports" is mentioned in the law, as Dr. Howie Knoff notes in many of his popular articles, it is never written in capital letters. This is nuance is significant because the lower-case denotation of "multi-tiered system of supports" affirms that the law is not advocating that all districts follow a pre-packaged master framework. Instead, as noted by Dr. Knoff in his updated work, "A Multi-Tiered Service and Support Implementation Guidebook for Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap," the loose language provides districts with the flexibility to provide multiple levels of systems to support all students that, in practice, takes into account school culture, climate, and capacity - hence the reason there is no singularly ordained as the "MTSS Framework."

To that end, it's important that we define some of the structural terms that will help add clarity to the broader conversation (all definitions are provided by the Oxford Dictionary).

System- " A set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method. "

Framework - "A basic structure underlying a system, concept, or text. "

Process - "A series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. "

Procedure- "An established or official way of doing something."

Due to the similarity of the terms and concepts (particularly system and framework; process and procedure) we need to look beyond a dictionary and into practice - rooted in business and project management. Thus, the BusinessDictionary defines the terms as follows:

System - "An organized, purposeful structure that consists of interrelated and interdependent elements (components, entities, factors, members, parts etc.). These elements continually influence one another (directly or indirectly) to maintain their activity and the existence of the system, in order to achieve the goal of the system."

Framework - " Broad overview, outline, or skeleton of interlinked items which supports a particular approach to a specific objective, and serves as a guide that can be modified as required by adding or deleting items."

Process - " Sequence of interdependent and linked procedures which, at every stage, consume one or more resources (employee time, energy, machines, money) to convert inputs (data, material, parts, etc.) into outputs These outputs then serve as inputs for the next stage until a known goal or end result is reached."

Procedure: -" A fixed, step-by-step sequence of activities or course of action (with definite start and end points) that must be followed in the same order to correctly perform a task."

To remove any ambiguity between a system and a framework and apply it in a practical sense , I emphasize the system as the vision, commitment, and goal (the principles - or the "what") and the framework as the supporting structure to support that vision (the "how").

In practice, it looks something like this:

System - The overarching vision/principles- often called "Continuous School "Improvement"

Framework - The district's self-defined multi-tiered (or level) systems of support

Process - The defined pathways to achieve a specific outcome within your mtss framework

Procedure- The itemized steps required to support a process within your mtss framework

To be clear, MTSS is not a process - as it is often mistakenly referred to. Instead, it is most closely associated with a framework that supports broader district academic and learning outcomes for students.

Now that we have deconstructed mtss and understand the project management terminology that will guide our district's continuous improvement and mtss implementation measures, we need to do the same for mtss' brethren, RtI and PBS (and PBIS).

RTI/RtI

The RTI Action Network defines RTI as " a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs." (source: RTI Action Network: What Is Response to Intervention?). Most often, RTI has been associated with improving outcomes on the academic side of the house, though many thought leaders such as Dr. Victoria Bernhardt (see her work: Response to Intervention and Continuous School Improvement p.12) , include behavior supports in the practice of RTI.

PBIS

According to PBIS.org, PBIS is defined as an " implementation framework for maximizing the selection and use of evidence-based prevention and intervention practices along a multi-tiered continuum that supports the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral competence of all students. " Though in other areas of their site, they allow for an alternative definition which is as follows: " [PBIS] is based on a problem-solving model and aims to prevent inappropriate behavior through teaching and reinforcing appropriate behaviors ."

RTI and PBIS: Two Side of the Same Coin? Source: https://www.pbis.org/school/mtss

Why "MTSS" Makes Sense

Hence, while both concepts seem to focus on specific areas (RTI for academic and PBIS for behavior) we can see that both practices overlap one another to some extent - which lends itself well to revisiting the categorization of concepts and re-framing them under the concept "MTSS."

In part II, we'll discuss the problem-solving model designed to be used within these frameworks and address most overlooked tier in the framework as well as provide a practical plan on how to complement and improve the important work being done in this area.

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