Midyear MTSS: Don’t Wait Until January to Fix What Isn’t Working

Don’t wait to get students on track for mid-year assessments. October is the right time to use your data to strengthen your supports for all students, not just struggling ones!

If you've been in the school system for any length of time, you understand that August is wild, you start to get into a groove in September and then, ugh, the October depression descends. The bloom fell off the rose after September, but Christmas, and the promise of a break, was still too far away to feel comforting. We existed in a fall funk that even college football couldn't cure. But October is the point in the school year when you finally have enough information to take a meaningful look at whether your instructional supports are actually working, which is why October is the critical month for your Multi-Tiered System of Supports, or MTSS.

Stress Test Your Core Supports

Whether you call it MTSS, Response to Intervention (RTI), a pyramid of supports, or something else entirely, the concept is all the same. In a multi-tiered system of supports, Tier 1 represents the core support that every student receives. If those core supports are sufficiently robust, we should expect 80% or more of students to achieve mastery. You have increasingly time and labor intensive support for the minority of students who need additional support. In a classic RTI system, there are three tiers (1,2, and 3) and in MTSS there may be additional tiers of support. But, broadly speaking, you’ll offer core or universal supports to every student, and differentiate remaining supports by student data. 

By October, we finally have enough data to see where those plans for Tier 1 support aren't working. Maybe students aren't mastering a particular phonemic skill. Maybe a particular grade level is struggling with a foundational math concept. Maybe truancy is beginning to create gaps in learning that weren't obvious in August. Too many educators try to add more intervention when they discover that students aren't mastering the content. The thinking is that if we add more (put these students in Tier 2! Add another progress monitoring schedule!) students will achieve more. But, if we do that, the pyramid of supports can go belly up pretty quickly. Suddenly, you've created a tremendous amount of work for teachers and interventionists without addressing the reason so many students needed intervention in the first place. October is the right time to strengthen the core.

Look at the Data, Not the Vibes

When you're making changes to your core supports, it's important to look carefully at the data instead of the vibes. One of my favorite approaches is using simple diagnostics that take a minute or less. A quick phonemic awareness screener, for example, can help you determine whether students are struggling with a specific foundational skill before you spend weeks guessing about what might be missing.

Other educators like to look for bright spots. Where are students achieving mastery? Which teachers, classrooms, or instructional approaches are producing strong results? Sometimes the fastest way to strengthen a system is to (thoughtfully!) plagiarize: identify what's already working and figure out how to replicate it.

I also strongly recommend putting your core supports in writing. What exactly are we expecting every student to receive? What instructional materials are we using? What does strong implementation look like? When will we revisit these supports with the instructional leadership team? Writing those decisions down creates accountability and gives you something concrete to return to when the next round of data arrives.

From Data to Action

This is where a tool like the Cohort Achievement Tracker can make the mid-year MTSS review much more manageable. The CAT allows schools to explore trends in DIBELS sub-component mastery at both the whole-group and subgroup levels, aligned to the Science of Reading. Instead of looking at a giant spreadsheet and trying to figure out where the gaps are hiding, instructional teams can filter their data and begin asking more useful questions. Are we seeing a problem across the entire grade level, or is the gap concentrated within a particular subgroup?

The CAT can also use existing student data to create intervention groups based on criteria selected by the school or district. Those criteria and student data points are fully customizable. If a school wants to focus on DIBELS data for second graders, for example, the RTI dashboard can be configured to highlight specific benchmarks and progress monitoring data.

Once the criteria are established, the CAT analyzes the student data and generates lists of students for each tier. It can also flag students who meet selected requirements for high-dosage tutoring, making it easier to move from identifying a need to organizing a response.

Strengthen the Core Before January

Once you've identified gaps in your core supports, prioritize the highest-leverage changes and give yourself a timetable for implementation. If students are struggling with basic phonemic skills, for example, replacing low-quality worksheets with high-quality instructional materials grounded in the Science of Reading may be a relatively simple change that punches well above its weight.

The important thing is to make the change and then check back. Don't wait until the January or February mid-year assessment to find out whether your new approach worked. Decide now when you'll review the data again. Give your instructional support team a date on the calendar. Look at your quick diagnostics. Monitor your bright spots. Adjust when the evidence tells you to adjust.

Some students will absolutely need Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports. That's part of a healthy MTSS system. If you're building intervention groups, I'd also recommend checking out our previous post on the RTI checklist. When Tier 1 is strong, fewer students need Tier 2 or 3. 

From Darktober to January

By January and February, your mid-year assessments should tell you whether the work you did in October actually made a difference. If you've been diligent about reviewing your supports, strengthening the core, implementing your MTSS process, and checking back on your progress, you should see 80% or more of your students reaching mastery. 

The most impactful thing we can do for a child's education is put a great teacher in front of them. Strengthening our core supports is one way we turn a good teacher into a great one. When we give teachers the right information, high-quality resources, and a clear understanding of what their students need, we make it easier for them to do what they do best.

Final Thoughts and How to Take Action

Want help with your MTSS? We would love to chat with you about some solutions there.  And while you’re at it, check out our video on the Cohort Achievement Tracker. Have experience strengthening core supports? Come join the conversation on social media and share your experience!

About Instructional Data Solutions: Our mission is to remove barriers to enable education organizations to focus on what matters most. We assist school systems and education organizations of all sizes by collecting, analyzing, and clearly communicating data. We are committed to empowering educators through comprehensive data analytics and tailored support. Additionally, we provide dedicated support for operational needs, process improvement, and special projects, offering customized solutions to enhance effectiveness and success. Our solutions bridge the gap between data collection and instructional improvement in PK-12 settings.