MTSS Training Cohorts: Tier 2 and Other Concerns Jacki Harasym, ND DPI Title I Brenda Oas, ND SPDG Project Director

Problem Identified: Need for advance preparation prior to beginning the MTSS training  Evidence: schools that pull out of the training process after # training sessions  Possible Solution: Preparation that includes Professional Learning Community Activities  RTI for Reading at the Secondary Level: Recommended Literacy Practices and Remaining Questions (2012) by Reed, Deborah K., Wexler, Jade and Vaughn, Sharon. Guilford Publishing  Data preparation: identification of key concerns that each school wants the training to address re. behavior and academics at their school prior to training. Look for alignment with AdvancEd priorities.

Problem Identified: Behavior is a key signal that students are frustrated  Issue is not well understood by all educators  There is a strong correlation between poor academic performance and behavior  Behavioral concerns tend to escalate as frustration grows  On the other hand, for some small schools the biggest behavior concern is lack of homework completion

Problem Identified: Tier 2 Supports at the Secondary Level are lacking Statewide MIS data indicate that there are 63 individuals statewide working in grades 7-12 who are providing Title I or reading instruction. Districts vary significantly. When asked for the top two districts in #s of these personnel at the secondary level, Minot has 6 Title/reading teachers at the middle school level and Fargo has 3 at the secondary level according to MIS data. The number of personnel in special education is 360 personnel for the 7-12 grade range. Coaching support infrastructure is at a very preliminary stage. Where will the support come from given these numbers ? One of the principals interviewed re. the district’s data needs had visited the elementary schools and suggested that the middle school needs a student performance strategist like the one available at the elementary level for grades K-2.

Problem identified: Data knowledge and use A more indepth treatment of this topic is the next item on the agenda Unevenness across the 1 st cohort of schools in their knowledge and use of data. There is a sense from those interviewed thus far that their use of data is going to change. Some of the smaller schools are involved in a multi-district process for review and analysis of data For those in larger districts, one of the issues is pushing up against the unevenness across the schools in the district relative to priorities (especially those things that are idiosyncratic to a building, e.g., School X has a strong focus on math). The middle schools are concerned about what this means as students move on to high school, for example. Schools are considering changes to the assessments they are using

Problem Identified: Buy-in by Administrators, Core Curriculum Teachers This is a common issue that is raised re. MTSS implementation. (Example, re. alternative algebra in ND High School) Too early for substantive evidence on this issue from the schools in the two cohorts, but this is a key data point to monitor. The TX Trainers have requested preliminary feedback re. training content from teams prior to training. Right now, we don’t know whether there is an issue, except for the schools that have dropped out of the Minot cohort. Follow up?