Multi -Tiered System of Support
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MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORT (MTSS)
What is MTSS?
Multi-tiered system of support is “a comprehensive continuum of evidence-based, systemic practices to support a rapid response to students’ needs, with regular observation to facilitate data-based instructional decision making.’’ Harlacher et al. (2014) described six key tenets of the MTSS framework:
All students are capable of grade-level learning with adequate support.
MTSS is rooted in proactivity and prevention.
The system utilizes evidence-based practices.
Decisions and procedures are driven by school and student data.
The degree of support given to students is based on their needs.
Implementation occurs school-wide and requires stakeholder collaboration.
What are the Tiers of Support?
Within the MTSS model, universal supports such as high quality, universally designed, culturally sustaining, and evidence-based curriculum, instruction, and assessments are provided for all students.
Movement amongst the three tiers is fluid and is not determined or defined by specific designations, such as diagnosed disabilities. Rather, movement is supported by data from universal screeners, diagnostic assessments, progress monitoring, and how a student responds to one level of intervention.
Any and all students should have access to support when they need them. In addition, obtaining services at one point does not mean that students will always need that level of support. The MTSS process is not always linear, but rather oriented around problem solving.
When data suggests that students require more or less intensive support to aid either remediation or enrichment, they will move throughout the tiers based on that need.
No student should be labeled by an intervention tier. For example, a child is not a “tier 2 student,” but rather a student requiring tier 2 support in a specific skill/content area(s). In addition, when a student receives interventions in tier 2, it should not replace tier 1 support. These supports build upon one another. Moreover, students can move fluidly through tier 1, 2, and 3 supports as needed.
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
MTSS provides a continuum of supports, which are typically conceptualized across three levels of increasing intensity (Rodriguez, Loman & Borgmeier, 2016).
These tiers represent the level of support a student may need at any point in his/her/their schooling. All tiers are universally designed using the principles of UDL and ensure equitable access for all students.
Academic
Behavioral
Social Emotional
*The current MTSS model in Massachusetts has been refined from previous versions. For example, this blueprint more explicitly focuses on equitable access and universal design for learning (UDL) and fully integrates social emotional and behavioral supports with academic supports (Lane, Oakes, Cantwell, & Royer, 2016).
Tier 1: Universal Support
In the visual, the door to the school is level with the ground, as all students entering into tier 1 receive tier 1 support. The arrows represent elevators, and students may move up and down the tiers as data suggests they would benefit from more targeted and intensive support.
Tier 2: Targeted Support
Tier 2 supports occur for all students who need them in addition to the supports that happen in tier 1 settings. Tier 2 supports are generally done in small groups and include additional opportunities to practice skills necessary for core instruction. Tier 2 services may or may not supplement special education services. The arrows to tier 2 represent elevators, and students may move up and down the tiers as data suggests they would benefit from more targeted and intensive support.
Tier 3: Intensive Support
Tier 3 provides more intensive support. These are often explicit, skills-based, focused interventions that occur individually or in very small groups. Again, tier 3 supports are provided for all students who need them. Tier 3 is not synonymous with special education.
The arrows to tier 3 represent elevators, and students may move up and down the tiers as data suggests they would benefit from more targeted and intensive support. Students receiving tier 3 supports may remain in the same physical location as students only receiving tier 1 or tier 1 and tier 2 supports.
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