RTI and MTSS Explained for Private School Educators: What are Our Colleagues in Public Schools up to?
By Caryn London
This issue of NASET’s RTI Roundtable series was written by Caryn London. Given that private schools are generally not governed by national, educational mandates outside of those impacting Title IV and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), educators at these settings are generally less aware of new educational buzzwords or acronyms. From personal perspectives as a private school educator, by attending a myriad of professional development opportunities, one can create rewarding learning outcomes that can help to lessen the gap on the awareness and implementation of beneficial educational initiatives from the public school system in private schools. The national propagation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTTS) and Response to Intervention (RTI) have created new learning challenges and opportunities for private education given that these educational frameworks have been empirically validated as effectively impacting student learning.
RTI and MTSS Explained for Private School Educators:
What are Our Colleagues in Public Schools up to?
Given that private schools are generally not governed by national, educational mandates outside of those impacting Title IV and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), educators at these settings are generally less aware of new educational buzzwords or acronyms. From personal perspectives as a private school educator, by attending a myriad of professional development opportunities, one can create rewarding learning outcomes that can help to lessen the gap on the awareness and implementation of beneficial educational initiatives from the public school system in private schools. The national propagation of Multi Tiered Systems of Supports (MTTS) and Response to Intervention (RTI) have created new learning challenges and opportunities for private education given that these educational frameworks have been empirically validated as effectively impacting student learning.
After seeing the acronym MTSS grow in popularity, the author realized that to properly conceptualize MTSS, RTI must first be understood. While making sense of these acronyms, conceptualizing the processes and strategies they encompass, and thinking about how they can be applied within a private educational setting, the author wondered if other private educators were experiencing the same; and more importantly, if her experiences navigating the world of MTSS and RTI could potentially help them. The ensuing narrative seeks to offer basic information on the MTSS and RTI frameworks for private educators.
RTI is a three-tiered model of increasing academic supports. RTI was introduced as a strategy to decrease student referrals for special education. With RTI, teachers use evidence-based interventions while monitoring student progress at each level of support, before a referral for special education is made (Leach & Helf, 2016). RTI allows teachers to measure how students respond to interventions, and assess what supports are needed. Using RTI, more students with disabilities are part of the inclusive classroom. RTI also provides a system for teachers to routinely check their student’s progress, and assess if interventions are needed.
Tier 1 is the most broad level, and it is comprised of quality instruction that follows grade level standards and objectives. Throughout the school year, teachers monitor student data to ensure students are meeting grade level expectations, while also identifying who may need additional support. If a student is found to need additional support, the teacher can plan a Tier 2 intervention that provides supplemental instruction based on data from Tier 1 (Florida Department of Education, n.d.). This Tier 2 intervention is most often administered to a small group. After monitoring the progress of the Tier 2 intervention, the teacher can determine if the intervention was successful, if the intervention should be continued, or if additional support from a more intensive Tier 3 intervention is needed. Teachers can manipulate an intervention’s frequency and duration to increase the intensity if needed. Diagnostic assessments may also be used to plan Tier 3 support (Florida Department of Education, n.d.).
RTI has proven itself to be an effective intervention strategy as it allows teachers to use data from evidence-based practices to assess what level of academic support students may need (Florida Department of Education, n.d.). Teachers are able to continuously monitor student progress and alter interventions. When used effectively, teachers can assess how students are responding to their instruction and what methods are working in their classroom (Broward County Public Schools, n.d.).
While RTI is an effective intervention strategy to address academic concerns, a need emerged for examining the student as a whole child, since academic, behavioral, and social and emotional needs are often intertwined. Explained by Sailor et al. (2021) in 2008, arguments for combining academic and behavioral interventions began to surface. These arguments called for a framework that used the strategy of RTI while considering components of the whole child. In 2009, the term “multi-tiered system of supports” began to spread in the literature (Sailor et al., 2021).
With a tiered framework similar to RTI, the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) is a school framework that organizes instruction and intervention to support the needs of all students, and maximizes their success (Florida Department of Education, n.d.). In the MTSS framework, supporting the whole child is emphasized. Academic needs, behavioral concerns, and social and emotional factors are all assessed as components that affect student learning (Sailor et al., 2021). The MTSS framework aligns the needs of the whole child, and integrates these components into a centralized system of support. Within this framework, RTI strategies based on the three-tiered model can be applied (Sailor et al., 2021).
Using RTI strategies, the MTSS framework allows all students to be screened for supplemental support. While RTI continues to include more students with disabilities into an inclusive classroom, under the MTSS framework, RTI can also be used for progress monitoring of advanced and gifted students (Leach & Helf, 2016). Since MTSS incorporates data that reflects the whole child, teachers and school staff can problem solve together how to best match evidence-based interventions that meet the needs of each student (Florida Department of Education, n.d.). Using RTI under the MTSS framework can lead to fewer classroom distractions and increased instructional time, leading to increased student success (McIntosh & Goodman, 2016).
The intervention strategy of RTI is enhanced under the MTSS framework. More students are able to receive the benefits of the three-tiered model, beyond academic concerns. Under the MTSS framework, RTI is used in an equitable way, with resources going to the most in need. MTSS encourages teachers and school staff to problem solve together, fostering a collaborative school culture of the adults working together (Leach & Helf, 2016). The combination of a collaborative school culture and using evidence-based practices through RTI can create an environment for student success.
In the private schools, the acronyms RTI and MTSS may not be implemented, but there are other ways of monitoring students and providing additional supports. Private school educators can examine how the RTI model could be used for classroom interventions, and learn the specific evidenced-based strategies needed to best help the student. Private school educators can also compare their schools’ supplemental supports to the MTSS framework and assess how they are meeting the needs of all students. Learning how RTI and MTSS can be applied within a private school can potentially enhance how student needs are met, particularly for those who need more academic and behavioral support. While the public and private school systems may have different acronyms, both share the passion of education and the desire to help students learn.
References
Broward County Public Schools. (n.d.) Multi-tiered system of supports. Multi-Tiered system of supports (MTSS)/response to intervention (RtI) parent guidance. https://www.browardschools.com/cms/lib/FL01803656/Centricity/ModuleInstance/4568/MTSS.pdf
Florida Department of Education. (n.d.) Parent guide to multi-tiered system of supports. https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7690/urlt/Parent-Guide-MTSS.PDF
Leach, D. & Helf, S. (2016, Fall). Revisiting the regular education initiative: Multi-tiered systems of support can strengthen the connection between general and special education. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 116-124.
McIntosh, K., & Goodman, S. (2016). Integrated multi-tiered systems of support: Blending RTI and PBIS. Guilford Publications.
Sailor, W. Skrtic, T. M., Cohn, M., & Olmstead, C. (2021). Preparing teacher educators for statewide scale-up of multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). Teacher Education and Special Education, 44(1), 24-41. doi.org/10.1177/0888406420938035
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