Administrator’s Guide to Supporting Teachers with MTSS Implementation

1. Understand Adult Learning Principles

2. Set Professional Learning Goals

Ask educators what irritates them about professional development, and you are likely to hear some of the following:

These concerns may indicate a mismatch between teachers’ needs and the training they are offered. From How to Plan MTSS Professional Development: When we set goals and consider the changes that need to occur, it’s essential to consider whether the purposes are technical or adaptive. According to Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky in their book The Practice of Adaptive Leadership (2009):

• Technical challenges can be identified and resolved relatively quickly using established knowledge and procedures. These problems can be effectively managed through authoritative expertise and routine processes.

• Adaptive challenges, on the other hand, involve a discrepancy between people’s values and the reality they confront, reflecting a lack of capacity to realize those values in their current environment. These challenges often require individuals to disrupt familiar routines and change their mindset.

It is crucial, therefore, to recognize and support both the technical and adaptive needs of teachers in implementing MTSS. For instance, if a school focuses solely on a technical goal like acquiring a new software platform without ensuring that users possess the necessary pedagogical knowledge to utilize it, the implementation may not succeed. Conversely, if educators receive adequate pedagogical training on a concept, they may start questioning the existing processes and technology and desire to explore tools to optimize their practices.

3. Build an MTSS Professional Development Plan

At the outset, there will likely be a large number of technical and adaptive challenges. Trying to address them all at once will overwhelm and frustrate teachers. It is important to prioritize the essential knowledge and carve out learning into manageable chunks. Otherwise, you may provide extensive (and expensive!) MTSS training in August and end up with nothing to show for it in May. Start by evaluating current data to identify the most critical areas of need, along with surveying staff to identify their learning preferences and self-reported gaps in MTSS knowledge. Some of those areas include:

In addition to the knowledge and skills represented here, consider the mindset shifts for MTSS that drive successful MTSS implementation:

• Students are treated with dignity and respect at all times

• All students are “our” students, and we collaborate for their success

• Data and research informs our instructional decisions at every level

• We are solution-focused and do not waste time admiring the problem

• Our MTSS is designed to achieve results, not just document failure

• We use a continuous improvement process

Then, build out a professional development plan to build capacity over time for the wide variety of roles and responsibilities in your school(s), and be sure to include accountability and support for each piece of training.

For District and State Administrators

District and State Leaders have a specific role to play in creating the conditions that make effective MTSS implementation possible. A long-term plan for training and sustainability is a gift to the campuses you serve and will directly impact students and even teacher satisfaction. A consistent level of support that accompanies the necessary accountability around student outcomes is also a matter of equity:

• Districts/campuses with higher student needs often also have higher staff turnover, less experienced teachers, and a more mobile student population. It is very difficult to sustain a campus-based training program amidst these challenges.

• Campus leadership will have different levels of experience with MTSS implementation and may themselves need significant training before providing support to their staff in implementation.

• When the larger organization provides high-quality training and resources, leaders and teachers gain a clear and consistent vision for MTSS that translates to more consistent student support across campuses and districts.

A multi-year plan that includes differentiation for new and returning teachers, leaders, and teams is complex but necessary to build and sustain capacity for MTSS implementation.

4. Communicate Early and Often

Professional development for adults is to communicate the plan, the purpose, and the expected outcomes for training in as many ways and as frequently as you can.

• Make information about the scope and sequence of professional development available to those who want to see it.

• Include information about how MTSS is aligned with all other training and expectations.

• Communicate in a variety of formats before AND after training, with resources and follow-up information included.

5. Get Creative with Learning Formats 

Every professional development hour is precious. Many schools start the year with a few inservice days that also include time for teachers to work in their classrooms and prepare, with some additional in-service days throughout the year. With every department clamoring for training hours, it’s nearly impossible to fit in all the necessary training if a large group formal training day is the only way teachers learn, especially at the beginning of MTSS implementation.

What value do you or another facilitator add to this content in a large group session, or could this information be covered in a different format?

Basic information about MTSS is freely available, but the opportunity to learn from and with specific people in a specific context is powerful. Will this trainer model, challenge, and encourage staff members to reflect on their own practice and develop new skills? If not, use a different format and save the large group training for what would have a bigger impact.

Could we learn this in a practical setting?

We learn best by doing, practicing, copying someone who has already acquired the skill, teaching someone else, and responding to feedback. When you think of learning this way, it is not limited to a day of professional development during in-service. Every meeting, formal and informal, can be a learning opportunity that builds those MTSS muscles.

• Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) provide opportunities both to accomplish the work and learn how to do the work. Learning alongside peers, whether departmental or grade level, increases engagement and contributes to the school’s culture. As confirmed by Serviss (2023) in her ISTE blog post, “PLCs allow teachers an easy way to share best practices and brainstorm innovative ways to improve learning and drive student achievement.”

• Provide hands-on learning when possible. Rather than a professional learning session on how to create an intervention plan for a student, sit down together to create an intervention plan for an actual student. Whenever possible, learn by doing actual work with a guide to model and assist.

Offer educators as much differentiation and choice as possible.

This could mean offering online vs. in-person sessions for required technology training or a choice of whether to do their learning independently or in a small group. The following is a list of options to consider:

Large Group Learning:

• Should be reserved for the most necessary training where this format makes sense

• Ensures that everyone hears the same message

• Offer learning support before and after, including slides and a recording for people to catch anything they missed • Follow-up is critical; extend learning into small group and coaching conversations

Small Groups:

• Opportunity to use PLCs or grade-level teams for deeper learning.

• Opportunity for staff-led training • Well-suited for addressing adaptive challenges and the mindset shift

Online Options:

• Great for flexibility and differentiated setting

• Online PD from outside trainers or webinars

• Allows for unlimited options for content

Asynchronous Learning:

• Helpful for teachers to prepare for a session or as prior reading for discussion

• Makes the most of large and small group time together as participants come prepared

• Provide short bits of learning through Micro-Learning throughout the year

Support Through Coaching

When implementing MTSS, your teachers will benefit from coaching in the real-life context where the new skill is being used. According to the meta-analysis of coaching by the Brookings Institute, “By providing more personalized support to teachers, coaching can improve the classroom instruction students receive and can ultimately ensure that more students are taught by effective teachers and benefit from a high-quality education.” (Quintero 2019) Research shows that leaders play a role in helping teachers feel empowered and capable in their roles, and coaching is a concrete way to improve job satisfaction and make a positive impact on student achievement.

However, the practice of coaching should be clearly defined by leaders to avoid leaving teachers with bad experiences that may lead to resistance to the support coaching can offer.

What if we don’t have instructional coaches? Even if hiring a team of instructional coaches is not an option, a great way to build the coaching atmosphere within a school is to have teachers nominate peer trainers and coaches. When principals support peer interactions, they ultimately “increase the effectiveness of instructional-improvement initiatives” (Toll 2023).

Asking one simple question can provide administrators with a list of expertise within the building. By collecting educator responses to the question “Who would you go to to learn more about _____?” principals can empower teachers to become leaders of future professional learning sessions and to create a web of support for implementation. Even reluctant teachers will feel honored by the nomination and will typically rise to the challenge in support of their peers.

Strengthen Through Mentorship

While new teachers bring a burst of energy and excitement amongst the staff, new teachers with a mentor tend to stay in the profession. According to the Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium and TeachPlus (2018), “One of the best ways to increase student performance is to invest in classroom teachers by providing high-quality mentorship in their first and second years. Teaching is not a one-size-fits-all profession, and teachers need individualized support.” Mentorship also provides a way for all educators, and not just new ones, to grow. Creating opportunities for different generations of teachers to collaborate and work together will only strengthen professional growth.

Accountability is different from support. It is important to have procedures for evaluation and teacher feedback. However, teachers often feel that these formal evaluations are unrelated to helping their actual performance. A strong support system, with leaders present in the classroom, offering feedback and coaching, will make these protocols much more fruitful and effective: “Indeed, one of the lessons we found in behavioral science is that observation alone can create accountability, even without formal consequences.” (Gill et al. 2017)

Aligning Initiatives and Easing The Lift

Subtract, Align, Streamline

Each year, leaders strive to make our teachers’ work more focused on time with students. Given the difficulties educators are facing, a top priority is easing the lift for those that are in the classroom supporting students. “Nearly 75 percent of [teacher] respondents who cite expectations as a top reason they plan to leave say they have too much work to do each day and that there aren’t enough teachers to carry the workload.” (Bryant et al. 2023)

Schools are continually implementing a wide variety of initiatives and programs, all aimed at benefiting students and staff. MTSS, due to its design, can function as an effective problemsolving and communication approach for a campus. It requires careful attention and effort to align existing school programs and initiatives under the MTSS umbrella, but leveraging MTSS as a catalyst and a guiding framework for the work of educating students can lead to an immensely valuable outcome.

Make MTSS Practicable for Teachers

A system for supporting students and meeting their needs must create efficiencies that ease the workload. Make use of best practices in communication and collaboration along with technology solutions to support those practices.

Conclusion

As a school administrator, you are the driving force behind MTSS implementation. Your support, dedication, and strategic leadership are what empower teachers and create an environment where every student can thrive. MTSS provides a framework that organizes this work and leverages available resources (including the collective strengths of teachers!) to improve student outcomes. With the right training, the right tools, and the right support, teachers CAN succeed in supporting all students, and you can create avenues of success for your goals as a leader.

About the Authors

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