The Alaska Staff Development Network, Alaska Council of School Administrators and the Alaska Department of Education are teaming up to offer districts an opportunity to assess their current multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) model in order to look for ways to enhance their practices for student success for all.
Knowledgeable Support – Realistic Timelines
Design MTSS Systems Meaningful to Your District.
- This is a two-year project with the time and support that is necessary to make the needed enhancements to your MTSS structure
- Work with nationally recognized experts and discover– or rediscover– how to build a powerful multi tiered system of supports to meet individual student needs.
- Each participating district will work alongside an experienced MTSS Coach to evaluate current MTSS practices and develop the next steps.
- Receive a $1,500 stipend for additional work done outside the school day.
- Attend up to three conferences per year – travel and conference registration fees are covered by the project
- Receive three university credits per year in connection with your work on this project. The cost of the credit is covered by the project.
Why
Supporting ALL Kids: The multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework is designed to help schools identify struggling students early and intervene quickly. MTSS supports all students with excellent core instruction, targeted, research-based interventions, and ongoing data collection. The goal is for students to receive timely intervention to help them meet learning targets, instead of waiting for them to receive failing grades.
It’s All Connected: MTSS provides strong academic core instruction to help students meet grade-level expectations, but a student’s growth is not limited to just academics. MTSS also supports social-emotional learning, positive behavior, and mental health.
Time for a Refresh: Many of the components of MTSS are not new practices. They’re the high-impact actions that educators have been doing for years. Coming back from COVID, it is time to focus on aligning those efforts again to help our students. MTSS isn’t reinventing the wheel—it’s bringing cohesion to the student-centered practices and data-driven decisions that already happen in many schools. MTSS helps increase the effectiveness of existing efforts, and uncover areas where adjustments or enhancements are needed.
How
| Activity | Description |
|---|---|
| First Virtual Coaching Meeting (whole group) | Meet with the group as a whole for a 90-120 minute meeting for introductions and review the purpose of the cohort, directions on the needs assessment plan and using that to develop a plan of action for the year. |
| Virtual Coaching Check-in | Meet with each cohort individually for 90 minutes to review their plan of action and address needs and ideas for the next steps. Meetings will be in Feb, March, April, May* |
| Attend up to three Conferences | Cohorts will attend the MTSS and Reading Symposium that would provide additional ideas, strategies, or “look fors” that they can take back to the district. Cohorts will also have the opportunity to attend a National MTSS Conference in July. |
| Webinars & PD | Cohorts will be invited to attend webinar series and online PD workshops supporting the work being done at the district level. |
| Next Step Meeting | Cohorts will meet with their coach to develop an action plan based on the needs assessment and work done to develop a plan of action for the following year. |
Deliverables and Anticipated Outcomes
Each cohort will be expected to either produce or develop working documents that include:
Deliverables
- Develop a district wide MTSS Support Team
- Develop Action Plans for Years 1 and 2
- Develop MTSS guidelines/guardrails that can be distributed to schools (and submitted to DEED)
Possible Projects
- Design a resource for teachers to utilize when examining Tier I strategies & Tier II interventions
- Develop intervention blocks that are focused on reading
- Create a system of tracking student progress to allow for adjustments to specific interventions
- Create systems that examine the effectiveness of interventions
Timeline
| Fall 22 | Spring 23 | Summer 23 |
| * Identify Cohorts Assign MTSS Coach * Complete MTSS self assessment * Oct/Nov webinar series | * Attend RTI/ MTSS Conference * Spring webinar * Attend Reading Symposium with an MTSS strand | * Develop action plan for Year II * Attend a National MTSS Conference |
| Fall 23 | Spring 24 | Summer 24 |
| * Review action plan and update new cohort members * Meet with MTSS Coach * Complete MTSS self assessment * Oct/Nov webinar series | * Attend MTSS Conference * Spring webinar series * Attend Reading Symposium with an MTSS strand | * Develop action plan for Year II * National MTSS Conference |
