3 Common MTSS Myths
Debunking MTSS myths
I’ve been a part of MTSS implementation in various states, districts, and schools since 2005. When I’m out in the world I hear a lot of misunderstandings about MTSS. So I’m here to debunk some of those myths. Here are the top 3 common MTSS myths from someone who has seen MTSS evolve from small scale to big time! Just like TSwift from the Nashville locals scene to the billion dollar business owner we need to worker smarter not harder, have clear goals in mind, and surround ourselves with a strong team. Keep reading to learn the top 3 most common myths I hear.
3 Common MTSS Myths
“MTSS is a new thing.”
“MTSS just describes the Tier 2 and 3 interventions.”
“MTSS is just a new name for what we used to call RTI.”
“MTSS is a new thing”
Let’s set the record straight once and for all! MTSS is not a new thing. It first started popping up in the academic journals in 2009 (McIntosh & Goodman, 2015). In 2012 I published an article on the schoolwide reading model we were implementing in Oregon, which was a version of MTSS, targeting early literacy instruction specifically. Prior to that we had Reading First, a national initiative that was funded back in 2001 which promoted a schoolwide reading model that included all the aspects of MTSS that we consider essential today:
universal screening,
progress monitoring,
tier 2 and 3 reading interventions delivered in small groups,
high quality tier 1 instruction for all,
and instructional coaching and ongoing professional learning for all instructional staff.
So when you hear someone say that MTSS is new or is a new initiative please note that it’s simply not true. It may be a new initiative in your district but it’s been around for awhile. There is history over the last twenty years of MTSS being implemented across the country.
“MTSS is just a new name for RTI (response to intervention)”
These next two myths are pretty closely related so I’ll keep it brief. Response to intervention has also been around since the early 2000’s and even before that people in special education were familiar with the concept of using diagnostic assessments to assign students to intensive interventions. The procedures around the development and use of curriculum-based measures (CBM, Shinn, 1989) which are the fuel behind RTI, have been promoted and used by special educators for over 30 years. RTI encompasses the procedures that we establish, standardize, and use to conduct problem solving for individual students or small groups of students with similar skill gaps. MTSS is all about the coordination of multiple systems including the Tier 2 and 3 interventions and special education services. The truth is that they are not the same and we do a disservice to both and set us ourselves for reduced impacts if we don’t understand how the two can compliment each other but are not the same.
MTSS just describes the Tier 2 and 3 interventions
Does your school call the Tier 2 intervention team the “MTSS team”? Then your school has integrated this misunderstanding into your system. Here’s why it’s important to not fall into this trap. MTSS encompasses Tier 1 also called universal supports. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. If you refer to MTSS as interventions only you are missing out on the whole purpose behind MTSS and that is to start with a prevention-orientation systemic approach for all students. It’s important to not refer to your Intervention assistance team as the MTSS team because as has happened with RTI, people fell into the trap of thinking that RTI is for special ed and for students who “I don’t serve in the my general education classroom”. Truly the only team in your school that should be referred to as the MTSS team, is the school leadership team overseeing MTSS implementation. If your Tier 2/3 teams are called the RTI team or the intervention assistance team, or even the student success team - that’s great! Proceed! Just remember that RTI is all about intervention and it falls underneath the MTSS framework. Send me a message to let me know how this does or doesn’t resonate with what you have in place at your school!