MTSS Misconceptions

The best strategy for improving student achievement across a grade level is by:

• Providing timely Tier 2 interventions

• Delivering high-quality afterschool tutoring

• Improving core instruction through Tier 1 problem-solving

• Identifying students in need of Tier 3 intervention

Answer explanation

While providing timely, high-quality Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions or afterschool tutoring are excellent strategies, the best way to improve student achievement across a grade level is by engaging in Tier 1 problem solving to improve core instruction.

Which of the following are reasons to implement an MTSS?

• To increase graduation rates

• To improve student performance

• To match services to student need

• All of the above

Answer explanation

When an MTSS is implemented well, districts and schools will appropriately match supports to student needs, which will result in improved student performance that will lead to increased graduation rates.

Which students are served within an MTSS?

• Only students who are struggling

• Only general education students

• Students receiving supplemental and intensive intervention

• All students

Answer explanation

When districts and schools employ an MTSS framework, educators use a data-driven problemsolving process to guide multiple tiers of standards-aligned instruction and interventions, aimed at enhancing the academic and behavioral outcomes of ALL students.

Which statement about Christina is most accurate?

• Christina is in MTSS

• Christina is in the MTSS process

• Christina receives tiered instruction based on need

• Christina is an MTSS student

Answer explanation

Referring to students as being “in MTSS” or “in the MTSS process” can unintentionally suggest that MTSS is only for “struggling” students. Instead, it is important to convey that MTSS is an educational framework aimed at achieving positive outcomes for every student. This framework includes a full range of support for every student, including those with disabilities. It is more accurate to view MTSS as the approach we use to educate all students and optimize their outcomes.

Which statement is correct?

• Mary is a Tier 3 reading student.

• Mary receives Tier 3 reading interventions.

• Both statements are correct

Answer explanation

The correct language is "Mary receives Tier 3 reading interventions.” MTSS is about intensifying instruction to improve student outcomes. MTSS provides a common framework and way of work to make that intensification possible. Most importantly, the term “tier” should be used to describe the intensity of the instruction and not to label the student.

MTSS is:

• A process used to determine eligibility for ESE

• A tiered intervention delivery system

• The process of using a student’s response to intervention to make instructional decisions

• An educational framework designed to ensure successful outcomes for ALL students

Answer explanation

MTSS is an operational framework designed to organize and direct the delivery of supports that are tailored to meet students' specific needs, serving ALL students within an educational system. It includes multiple tiers of instruction and intervention, it also incorporates a process of using students RtI to make instructional decisions, and data collected through data-based decision making can be used for determining eligibility for ESE. However, MTSS is, by definition, an educational framework designed to ensure successful educational outcomes for all students.

A Tier 1 intervention is:

• The first intervention attempted for an individual student

• The same thing as core instruction

• A universal change to Tier 1/Core instruction that impacts all students

• Instruction that excludes students on Access Points

Answer explanation

An “intervention” in the simplest terms is any change or adjustment to instruction provided to the whole group, small group, or individual student. It can be applied across all tiers of instruction, and at the Tier 1 level, it impacts all students receiving core instruction.

About how many students in a school should be in Tier 1?

• 80%

• 20%

• 100%

• None of the above

Answer explanation

Tier 1 is the universal, or core instruction that every student receives. Some students will also receive Tier 2, and a few will receive Tier 3 in addition to Tiers 1 and 2. But 100% of students will receive Tier 1, since it is the classroom instruction, curriculum and environment that is designed for all students’ achievement of the standards.

The term TIER is defined by:

• The intensity of the instruction/intervention

• The students who receive the intervention at varying levels of intensity

• The steps that must be completed prior to ESE eligibility

• A place where student receive intervention

Answer explanation

Within Florida’s schools, the continuum of support provided to students is described as Tier 1, 2, and 3 levels of instruction and intervention with each tier increasing in intensity from the one before. Therefore the “tiers” describe the intensity of the instruction/intervention provided. It does not describe a place where students receive intervention or the students receiving the intervention.

_________ is the process by which instructional decisions are made.

• _________ is the process by which instructional decisions are made.

• Problem Solving

• RtI

• Intervention Design

Answer explanation

Problem solving is a team-based, collaborative process used to make decisions at all levels of the educational system, from the district-wide organization to the individual student. While several models of data-based problem solving exist, the four-step problem-solving process used within Florida’s model of MTSS includes: 1) problem identification where we define the goals or expectations to be attained, 2) problem analysis where we identifying possible reasons why the desired goals are not being attained, 3) instructional/intervention design where we develop a plan for and implementing evidence-based strategies to attain the goals, and 4) Response to Intervention/Instruction where we evaluate the effectiveness of the plan.