1. Where Does Special Education Fit Within MTSS?
Bill East, Ed.D., Executive Director
National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)

2. Where Does Special Education Fit Within MTSS?
Everywhere!
(But so does every other ED)

3. Special Education in MTSS: A Chronology
             

4. Special Education: Leading by Convening
Special Ed as a convener: Seeding RTI through special education
Special Ed as a connector: Engaging key stakeholders in RTI
Special Ed as a supporter: Enabling Gen Education to lead on RTI
Special Ed as a partner: From RTI to MTSS
Special Ed as an ally:  Working across systems for improved outcomes through ESSA and IDEA

5. Technical and Adaptive Challenges
9/21/2018
Technical and Adaptive Challenges
Technical
Adaptive
Evidence
Experts
Manuals
Tools
Protocols
Communication
Influencers
Understanding
Agreement
Willingness to make personal change

6. IDEA Partnership@NASDSE 2016
... ad Not!
Delicate Balance
Technically
Implemented
Practically
Adopted
Culture
Context
Data
Evidence
IDEA Partnership: 2016

7. What We Know...
We are much better on the technical side than the adaptive side
We must learn to influence change
The leadership journey in moving RTI and MTSS has taught us the importance of:
learning what people know and believe
Involving others from the start
helping people to make a personal practice change
creating opportunities for others to lead
The leadership journey in moving RTI and MTSS has shown us the future!

8. Special Ed as a Convener: Seeding RTI through Special Education
Looking back....
Important research and knowledgeable researchers funded through OSEP and State investments
NASDSE as a partner in building awareness and support (Response to Intervention: Policy Considerations and Implementation, 2006)
Forward leading states made investments in practice change

9. Special Ed as a Connector: Engaging Key Stakeholders in RTI
Learning who has influence...
Asking:
Who leads practice change at the ground level?
Where are the groups that they listen to?
Making the case that RTI is good for all students
Connecting RTI to outcomes for administrators and teachers and their national organizations

10. Special Ed as a Supporter: Enabling General Education to Lead on RTI
The test of leadership: Sharing It.
Asking ourselves:
Can RTI take hold as a special ed. initiative?
How do we become allies with general education in implementing RTI?
How do we stay focused on students with disabilities in a system change?

11. Special Ed as a partner: From RTI to MTSS
Translating the strategy for broad understanding and support: Tiered Systems
What we do for all
What we do for some
What we do for a few
Learning difference is NOT the same as disability
Both academic achievement and behavior impact learning

12. Special Ed as an ally:  Working across systems for improved outcomes through ESSA and IDEA
The challenge continues:
Conveying: All students are general education students first!
Thinking about special education as an important part of general education.
Acknowledging what we know and what we have done to support a better system for all learners
Reaching out to influencers as the decisions evolve to the state and local level under ESSA
Attending to the technical and adaptive sides of every issue
Learning from and with the stakeholders!
Knowing: Relationships as the path to becoming allies.

13. Everybody is both a leader and a learner!
The Lessons of Adaptive Leadership Learned through our Role in RTI and MTSS has shown us our future.
We are stakeholders.
Everybody is both a leader and a learner!

14. Stakeholders as Allies and Assets: Grounding Beliefs :
IDEA 2016
Stakeholders as Allies and Assets: Grounding Beliefs :
One of the key strategies promoted by the IDEA Partnership is surfacing grounding assumptions as a first step.
Lets see how what we think and feel about our Grounding Assumptions.
Is there agreement in concept?
Do we see use in practice?
Where is the breakdown? Do leaders falter? Do stakeholders falter?
Our work is focused on helping leaders and stakeholders to recognize that they need each other.

15. The End