An Introduction to Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) is a model of educational practice in which students’ responsiveness to the instruction they receive informs ongoing decision-making about the intensity of instruction they need. MTSS is a term used to refer to a combination of practices relating to academics response to intervention (RTI) and social-behavioral learning from the Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports( PBIS) model. MTSS is comprised of six key features common to both RTI and PBIS, according to Sugai and Horner’s (2009) review: Scientific research supports the instruction and intervention.
Tiers defined by increasing levels of intensity organize instruction and intervention. Intervention increases in intensity when frequency, duration, and specialization of the interventionist increase, and when group size decreases. The least intense instruction is generally the core curriculum and is called Tier 1, while Tiers 2 and 3 — or secondary and tertiary intervention — are composed of interventions that focus with increasing intensity on specific elements of the core curriculum.
A problem-solving process uses assessment data systematically to make instruction and intervention adjustments. Explicit data-based decision rules inform students’ movement through tiers of instructional support and intervention adjustments within tier. Ongoing, formative assessment and attention to integrity to the MTSS model’s problem-solving process and data-based decision-making rules comprise and organize collaborative (e.g., multiple teachers, specialists, and administrators) use of data. Universal screening three or four times per year provides early identification of students who are not responding to core instruction according to grade-level expectations.
Tiers defined by increasing levels of intensity organize instruction and intervention. Intervention increases in intensity when frequency, duration, and specialization of the interventionist increase, and when group size decreases. The least intense instruction is generally the core curriculum and is called Tier 1, while Tiers 2 and 3 — or secondary and tertiary intervention — are composed of interventions that focus with increasing intensity on specific elements of the core curriculum.
A problem-solving process uses assessment data systematically to make instruction and intervention adjustments. Explicit data-based decision rules inform students’ movement through tiers of instructional support and intervention adjustments within tier. Ongoing, formative assessment and attention to integrity to the MTSS model’s problem-solving process and data-based decision-making rules comprise and organize collaborative (e.g., multiple teachers, specialists, and administrators) use of data. Universal screening three or four times per year provides early identification of students who are not responding to core instruction according to grade-level expectations.
