A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) has the power to transform the educational landscape for millions of students. Established on the principle that education should be accessible to all students, MTSS strives to establish an equitable and inclusive environment where students are supports in all areas of needs.
We talk a lot of MTSS here at Branching Minds. We share a lot of data and research demonstrating the positive impact of systems of MTSS in schools across the nation. We talk about the different tier levels of MTSS, different usage of assessments, what an evidence-based intervention is, and how to monitor intervention plans.
But we’re not the only ones talking about the impact of MTSS on student success. This past spring, Branching Minds held a nationwide competition asking educators to share their MTSS stories. We received excellent submissions from dedicated teachers, interventionists, and psychologists.
One of these success stories came from Lacylee Wright, an interventionist who had struggled to proactively identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in order to provide them with targeted support. In her story, Lacylee describes how MTSS transformed her school, leading to faster identification of student challenges and proactive application of intervention. Her school utilized the Branching Minds’ MTSS Management Platform to help support their MTSS practice and streamline their workflows. We are honored to share Lacylee’s MTSS story with you.
“How MTSS Increased Equity in My School”
By: Lacylee Wright
MTSS has positively impacted our school because students have made great strides in their learning. MTSS has helped our school identify struggling students early and intervene quickly. Using the MTSS framework of staff collaboration, we created groups of professionals to discuss the needs of the whole child and create specific plans to support each student. This system allowed us to identify other areas where students need help, including behavior, social-emotional, and absenteeism.
Through these practices, MTSS increased equity and support for all students. Students who needed additional support were identified early and were provided support targeted around their specific needs. Using our universal screening data, my school could utilize evidence-based instructional programs and strategies for all students. We proactively monitored student progress, so educators knew their academic progress and could make changes according to their needs.
As an interventionist, MTSS helped me collaborate with colleagues and streamline workflow by allowing us to have collaborative conversations about students often. Utilizing an MTSS management platform (Branching Minds), we could keep the information at our fingertips for teachers, staff, and administrators to view often and use in decision-making.
MTSS and SEL impacted relationships with our students because they allowed us to support kids in a variety of ways. Our collaborative conversations led us to new learning about students and the supports we could put into place to help each child. It also allowed everyone in the school to build relationships with each other and our students. We got to know more about each other’s strengths and provided learning opportunities. Our school culture became more collaborative and positive as we all worked towards the same goal.
As an interventionist, I have struggled with identifying students’ strengths and weaknesses quickly so that I could establish goals for them and make an impact. MTSS put systems in place to allow for deep discussion and decision-making on every student. It gave me valuable insight into a student's learning needs, so that I could hit the ground running.
MTSS allowed our teachers to stay informed about the progress of each student. We used data to have important conversations, increase collaboration, and optimize decision-making for each student. Thankfully, an MTSS Management Platform puts everything in ONE place and gives teachers more time away from data collection. Having an MTSS platform helped teachers view student achievement, deficits, interventions, and meeting notes. MTSS has been a big part of our success this year.
| Additional resources you may find helpful: ➡️ Read more about How Technology is Improving the Way We Implement MTSS |
| Save teachers time and effort  The Branching Minds platform enables teachers to find streamlined documentation, automate data ingestion from multiple sources, improving the efficiency of preparing for problem-solving meetings. Additionally, the platform provides data visualizations, collaborative input, and holistic student view, improving the quality of the problem-solving conversation during meetings. 
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