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The Framework Supporting the Needs of All Students

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is a framework to support the diverse needs of all students. The MTSS framework provides tiers of support in academics, social-emotional learning, and behavior.

Kent School District is implementing a 5-year plan for MTSS. During the 2020-2021 school year, teams across the district spent a year adapting their MTSS systems to the virtual environment, which has extended the planning an additional year. 2021-2022 will be year 5 of implementation for Elementary Schools, year 4 in the middle schools, and year 2 for the high schools. Schools are working hard to increase tiered supports and provide all students avenues for success.

Tier 1: Universal Supports

Universal supports are given to all students in the school. Tier 1 supports should meet 80-85 percent of student needs.

Academics

All students receive the core curriculum.

Social-Emotional

Students in grades K-8 complete Second Step curriculum.

Behavior

Schools establish clear school-wide expectations, teaching routines, and intentionally build positive relationships between staff and students. 

Tier 2: Targeted Supports

About 10-15 percent of students need targeted supports in addition to tier 1 supports. These may be short term supports until a student has gained the skills to be supported by tier one.

Academics

A teacher may pull a small group aside to deliver pre-teaching or reteaching.

Social-Emotional

A counselor may pull a small group to work on a specific social skill or the teacher may reteach part of the social-emotional curriculum to a small group of students who need extra reinforcement.

Behavior

Some students benefit from a check-in/check-out system where they have an adult checking their progress toward meeting schoolwide expectations and create goals with the student.

Tier 3: Intensive Supports

Typically, less than 5 percent of students need intensive supports. These are individualized to meet the needs of the student.

Academics

A teacher may provide accommodations for a student in which they break down tasks into small pieces. The teacher may provide additional intense instruction on a specific skill. The teacher will also frequently take data to monitor the progress of the student.

Social-Emotional

A teacher or counselor may work with a student individually to work on specific social-emotional skills they need. This may look like going through If-Then plans from Second Step or going through the Problem-Solving Steps one-on-one with a student.

Behavior

This may look like developing a behavior plan as a team. Behavior plans can be developed for both general education and special education students to support their unique needs.