The Effectiveness of the Multi Tiered Systems of

Support (MTSS) in Brandon Elementary Schools

Jenny Gieselman Andy Phillips Shelly Schantz

Kindergarten Principal 4th Grade
Please take a moment to contribute to our online
discussion (link or QR code) - https://goo.gl/M4JMxD

Link to slides: https://goo.gl/yRER2X

 ● Started as Response to Intervention (RTI)
Chapter 1 -
● Three tiers of support
Introduction - ○ Tier 1 - High quality instruction - all
Part 1 - MTSS students
○ Tier 2 - Targeted small group intervention
Definition for at-risk students
○ Tier 3 - Intense intervention at the
individual level
● RTI became MTSS
○ “Basically, RTI is an integral part of MTSS
but MTSS is more cohesive and
comprehensive in the goal of meeting the
needs of all learners” (Hurst, 2014)
 ● Important to our research
Chapter 1 - ● “Training” in RTI prior to 2012 was meeting mechanics
Introduction - ● Fall of 2012 a new Director of Special Education was
hired - during this school year, a large committee was
Part 2 - History formed to create/revamp the process
● This was a 31 member committee comprised of GE
in Brandon teachers, SE teachers, social workers, speech
pathologists, and administrators
● Created forms and processes (forms are still in use
today)
● RTI became MTSS at about this time
● Of the 31 members, 60% remain in the district today
● MTSS is run differently in each school
● One school that was initially part of our study was
closed and the other two went from JK-3 to JK-5.
 ● Assumptions:
Chapter 1 -
○ Attitudes of teachers toward MTSS
Introduction - would be negative
Part 3 - ○ If the process were streamlined,
attitudes would be less negative
Assumptions ○ Students who were in MTSS would
and Limitations improve more on test scores
compared to those who were not
● Limitations
○ The study was conducted in one
district so results cannot be
generalized to other districts
Chapter 3 - ● The purpose of this study was to determine how well the
Method of processes in place in the Brandon School District met the best
Study -
Purpose practices of MTSS. Results and recommendations were
shared with Brandon’s administrative team, and especially
with the special education director.
 ● Staff members
Chapter 3 - ○ Administration, teachers, intervention staff, students
Method of ● Interviews
Study - ○ Administrators new to the process since it became
MTSS instead of RTI as well as administrators new to
Surveys and the process altogether.
Interviews ○ Interviews were also conducted with some of the 60%
(Spring 2017) of the original MTSS committee members that still
worked within the Brandon School District.
Chapter 3 - ● NWEA MAP assessment data was used
Method of ● We used conditional growth percentile
Study - ○ What is CGP?
Standardized ○ We took average CGPs of different
Testing Data cohorts of students at each school and
compared
Chapter 4 - Results of the
Study - Student Growth
● Student achievement results were sporadic.
Some pockets of significant growth of MTSS
students as opposed to non-MTSS peers.
Other areas where it was the opposite.
Results (CGP)
Students in MTSS when compared to those not in MTSS
Grade Level Harvey Swanson Oakwood
Kindergarten Math Lower Math Lower
Reading Lower Reading Lower
1st Grade Math Higher Math Higher
Reading Higher Reading Lower
2nd Grade Math Higher Math Higher
Reading Lower Reading Lower
3rd Grade Math Lower Math Higher
Reading Lower Reading Lower
Chapter 4 - Results of the
Study - Teacher Perception
● About half of the teachers indicated they did
not have a clear understanding of the MTSS
process
● 19 out of 24 teachers had positive perception
about collaboration time that MTSS provided
● 15 out of 24 teachers had a negative
perception about the perceived lack of
support for MTSS students
Chapter 4 - Results of the Study
- Administrator Interviews
● All agreed that consistency was important
● All agreed that time needs to be set aside for
training and collaboration
● All agreed that the process needs to be
revisited
● Interestingly, teacher release time is under
intense scrutiny in our district
Chapter 5 - Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusion Recommendation
There is not a common Spend time each year defining the
understanding of the MTSS process and revisiting as necessary.
process in the district.
Student growth was not Specific interventions need to be
consistent among MTSS developed or invested in and those
students. need to be uniform among schools.
Brandon has many pieces of Build on what is being done well and
MTSS in place. work on fixing gaps.
Discussion
● Questions for us?
● What are strengths and weaknesses of
RTI/MTSS in your schools/districts?
Contact Information
Jenny Gieselman: jgieselman@brandon.k12.mi.us
Andy Phillips: aphillips@brandon.k12.mi.us
Shelly Schantz: sschantz@brandon.k12.mi.us