RJUHSD to implement MTSS goals
(CAM MEDRANO / EYE OF THE TIGER)
The Wellness Center opens its doors to student to provide them with emotional support. With MTSS, the Wellness Center will be involved with identifying students who are struggling in ways not reflected in data like GPA and absences.
December 17, 2018
Roseville High School is currently in the process of implementing a new student support program, called a Multi-Tiered System of Support. MTSS aims to focus on supporting the whole student in order to advance the quality of performance in students socially, emotionally and academically.
It does so by using student data such as GPA, behavioral referrals, and attendance to help identify students who might need extra help, with additional input from avenues like the Wellness Center to take into account issues a student might struggle with that do not show up in data.
RJUHSD’s executive director of equity & intervention Judy Fischer helped hold an initial meeting about implementing MTSS at Roseville High School at the start of this month. Select RHS staff, including administrators and counselors, worked to fill out a survey assessing RHS according to the MTSS’ three tiers of intervention and support.
Each tier is a level of personalized instruction.
The first tier of MTSS is the general quality of instruction and of educational facilities, including classroom materials.
This level aims to improve these areas to provide a better learning experience for all students, with a focus on purposeful instruction and well-maintained classrooms and is available to all students.
Tiers two and three tailor to more specific students, aiming to provide extra help to individuals who need it, both on an academic and emotional level. Tier two focuses on offering select students purposeful intervention classes and instruction in a small groups, so they can get the help they need to be successful.
I think that when we humanize our students, we are ultimately more successful.
— PBIS coordinator Jamie Handling
Tier three expands on tier two, offering students one-to-one tutoring as well as core replacement curriculum and student study groups. According to Fischer, schools will provide students with whichever levels of assistance they need at a given time.
“If tier one is or isn’t working for it you it’s not like you jump to tier two,” Fischer said. “It’s like a layering effect of support. You go up and down, between the three tiers.”
MTSS is a blend of past support programs RHS has used, including PBIS (Positive behavioral interventions and supports) and RTI.
While RTI focused on data, PBIS at its core aimed to cultivate positive campus culture through behavioral reforms, in the form of ROAR support lessons and other methods
PBIS coordinator Jamie Handling believes that this new approach will better address the issues students are facing.
“I think MTSS humanizes each student as an individual instead of college practice of numbers,” Handling said. “I think that when we humanize our students, we are ultimately more successful.”
Placer County School District is following in the footsteps of other states who have already established affiliations with MTSS, such as Colorado, Texas, and Florida. RJUHSD has collaborated with companies in Kansas and the Orange County Office of Education exposing district and cite administrators to MTSS training in preparation for implementing MTSS practices.
Ultimately, as the California Department of Education continues the institution of MTSS, Fischer expects support programs to change the best learning experience.
“It’s takes years. You’re planning, and revising it, and trying it again. You’re trying to refine your process or intervention,” Fischer said. “ [Kid’s] are changing and it’s fluid.”
