MTSS at Eudora Elementary

We want all children to be successful! As the children progress in their reading mastery, parents will be informed of progress. We’re all in this together!

What is MTSS?

MTSS stands for Multi-Tier Systems of Support, a system of individualized instruction supported by the Kansas State Department of Education. For reading, this team approach to instruction provides small and large group instruction at each student’s success level. Each “tier” introduces, practices, and provides mastery-level instruction in the process of learning to read and comprehend. Students will be assessed frequently to determine if their needs of instruction have changed. The students are moved to the level of instruction that best fits their needs on a regular basis. The purpose of this method of instruction is to more adequately meet the reading goals of all students.

The MTSS process is flexible and has been designed by our staff MTSS Team to meet the needs of all of our students.

What does the MTSS process look like?
The MTSS process typically has three tiers. Each tier provides differing levels of support:

TIER I
All students receive high quality reading curriculum and instruction in the general education classroom. The teacher assists all students.

TIER II
Teachers will provide supplemental instructional support, in smaller groups, to students who need additional support to what they are receiving from the general curriculum.

TIER III
In this Tier, intense instructional support is provided to students with the greatest needs, with frequent progress monitoring.

WHEN GOALS ARE MET
When a child meets the goals developed by the teacher and the team, the intervention is no longer needed and the child continues to receive support in the general education classroom. If progress monitoring shows that a child is not responding to the intervention another approach or intervention may be tried.

However, if a higher level of support is needed, children are given individualized instruction, which further focuses on supporting the skills DIBELS (Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment for reading. The benchmark students are introduced to a variety of extended reading activities, including but not limited to book reports, plays, non-fiction reports on themes, creative writing, and reader’s theater.

What do the tiers look like?

Tier I. This Benchmark (on grade level) group consists of students who have successfully mastered the core reading curriculum and consistently perform at or above 80% on the reading summatives. These students have also reached the benchmark (grade level) score on the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment for reading. The benchmark students are introduced to a variety of extended reading activities, including but not limited to book reports, plays, non-fiction reports on themes, creative writing, and reader’s theater.

Tier II. The strategic level of instruction is divided into groups which are formed according to the scores students receive on the DIBELS assessment of early reading skills. Each group of strategic or Tier II students receives phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding instruction at the primary levels, and fluency and comprehension instructional strategies at the intermediate level. The groups are typically made up of 3 to 7 students per instructor. These students receive lessons that include repetition and lots of opportunities for mastery of basic reading skills.

Tier III. The intensive level of instruction serves students who have several challenge areas in reading. This group of students is formed based on their performance on the DIBELS assessments of early reading skills. This group of 3 to 6 students receives instruction in the area of phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding instruction as well as fluency and comprehension at the intermediate level to help with the basic reading skills. These students receive lessons which use “hands on” activities, games, and repetition, which allows for opportunities to master the reading skills.

Your MTSS team at Eudora Elementary: