Attendance is crucial for student success—after all, they can’t learn if they’re not there. During and after the pandemic, attendance issues have surged, with about 26% of public school students considered chronically absent in 2022-2023, up from 15% pre-pandemic. There’s also been a rise in school refusals linked to mental health struggles.

Time is our most precious resource in education. Ask any administrator or teacher, and the desire for more time is likely at the top of their list! Because time is so valuable, it is critical that we make the most of professional learning related to MTSS. Educators are picky about professional learning, and rightly so. They want the time invested in learning about MTSS to have a direct impact on their work and on student outcomes. That is what school leaders want, too.

Note: This blog was originally published in March 2021 and has since been updated. 

Why Is Capacity Building So Critical for MTSS?

School leaders, I’d like to circle back with you to think about how you are developing your staff across your school and/or district. A couple of years ago, in this blog on building capacity, I shared the “who, how, and why we don’t” of leaders intentionally building capacity for leadership, sharing their talents and experience more broadly…in essence bringing all you can so that all of your staff and students benefit from every ounce of “know-how” possible!

Reading difficulty has an outsized effect on a student's ability to be successful in school and in life. Dyslexia is defined as “a brain-based learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to read.” (Stanley & Petscher, 2017) Reading ability can also be impacted by the “lack of education opportunity and appropriate literacy instruction.” (Dundas, 2023) Fortunately, research suggests that early identification and intervention for dyslexia prevents further difficulty for the student.  In fact, most states now have dyslexia legislation requiring reading training for teachers and support for struggling students, according to the National Center for Improving Literacy.

The original blog post below was created in 2021. Although most aspects of it are still valid and important to apply in the context of communicating about MTSS, I could not republish this without an update that would take into consideration our new ways of learning and communicating since the pandemic, and the speed with which we have embraced new technologies, change, and ways of pivoting quickly. So here is what I would love for each reader to consider as you read this article:

One of my mistakes as a new instructional coach was applying my understanding of student learning directly to the adult professional development sessions I led. My goal was to model instructional practices and strategies that worked with students. However, my super fun, get-out-of-the-seat learning games were not as engaging or appropriate for adult learners. I quickly realized that training for my peers would look vastly different than for a classroom full of 8th graders.

As you enjoy the summer break —whether you’re hiking a mountain path, lounging on the beach, exploring a new destination, or just taking a break at home—we’ve curated a collection of MTSS resources to keep your skills sharp and further your MTSS knowledge.

Do you ever find yourself trying to make sense of all the assessments your students are expected to take, only to end up with more questions (and maybe a headache)? When should they take the assessments? Are they for ALL students or only SOME students? Which teachers can administer them? Which students need testing accommodations, and which accommodations do they need? 

As the halfway point in the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund time frame approaches and the remaining deadlines to leverage funds come into focus, district administrators should be asking two questions:

• How can I best leverage these federal dollars to support student success?
• Have the tools and programs we’ve purchased so far been used?

We have all heard the analogy that teaching is like juggling. As educators, we are responsible for keeping many balls in the air. Now, imagine you’re juggling all those balls in the air, and then new balls keep getting thrown in while you’re simultaneously sending other balls out of your cycle. In juggling, this is called passing. Who knew this was its own category in juggling?