Using MTSS as a Blueprint for Ensuring the Success of All Learners:
Aligning Frameworks, Supporting Systems and Critical Components for Maximum Impact in Independent and International Schools
Facilitators: Kim Bane and Paula Peters
Kim Bane is an international education consultant who works with schools across the globe to design and implement inclusive educational practices that support the needs of all learners. Kim brings experience, dedication and passion to this work, having successfully collaborated with schools both in the United States and across the Middle East, Africa and Asia to transform the learning experience for students, teachers, and school leaders. Kim supports schools in creating and sustaining inclusive cultures by thinking strategically about the journey a school will need to embark on and then helping to design a course of action that will accomplish this goal. Through coaching and consulting, Kim supports school leaders as they strategically navigate this complex organizational change. She guides and provides direct instruction for teachers as they develop their understanding on the critical instructional components and approaches that support inclusive practices such as Universal Design for Learning, the Co-Instructional Cycle and tiered systems of support (often referred to as MTSS) that address the needs of the whole child.
Paula Peters - As a practitioner, teacher leader and coach, Paula Peters believes that all students deserve high-challenge, high-support rigorous experiences that will prepare them for learning in the 21st century and beyond. Through professional presentations and job embedded coaching and collaboration, she works with teachers and administrators to maximize lesson design and lesson delivery that improves student outcomes while meeting the needs of a wide range of learners. As an international educator, Paula has worked with a varied number of curricula and pedagogies and has extensive experience in integrated, co -taught and special needs classrooms. Best of all, Paula has worked with and on teams from the implementation to refining stages of change in educational settings.
To learn more about how Kim and Paula support schools: www.pathwaystoinclusiveeducation.com
Session Overview:
“MTSS is not just about tiered interventions, but rather how all systems in a school fit together to ensure a high quality education for all students”. (Novak and Rodriquez) Schools are complex organizations with many moving parts (systems, frameworks, structures, learner, etc). In this two day session, we will guide participants through a discovery journey of the existing systems, frameworks, and structures that currently exist within their school in order to refine, adjust, and align those existing practices to the MTSS framework.
Session Outcomes
Understanding MTSS Fundamentals:
Gain a deep and practical understanding of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework.
Assess Current Practices, Frameworks and Systems:
Self-assess/evaluate the existing pedagogical practices, instructional frameworks, and systems in place within their school.
Identify Alignment and Misalignment in your Current System:
Determine where alignment exists between the mission, vision, and student profile and the current practices, and identify areas where misalignment or gaps are present.
Analyze Impact on Student Outcomes:
Examine how the alignment (or lack thereof) impacts student learning outcomes, engagement, and success.
Explore Contemporary Practices:
Investigate contemporary practices in MTSS and implementation science that support aligning mission, vision, and student profile with everyday practices.
Review and Revise Practices and Systems:
Identify specific changes or adjustments that need to be made in the school's practices, pedagogy, frameworks, and systems to achieve alignment.
Create an Action Plan:
Develop a concrete action plan with timelines and responsibilities to implement the changes identified during the workshop.
Promote a culture of continuous improvement within the school, where alignment is regularly reviewed and adjusted as needed.
Promote Accountability:
Develop a collaborative tool for accountability to ensure that the proposed changes are implemented effectively and progress is tracked.
Research Connections
In Support of Students: A Leader’s Guide to Equitable MTSS by Katie Novak and Kristan Rodriquez
Multi-Tiered System of Support by Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Who Should Attend
For maximum impact, we strongly encourage participants to come with a school team or thought-partner. We highly recommend bringing a personal copy of In Support of Students: A Leader’s Guide to Equitable MTSS by Katie Novak and Kristan Rodriquez This session is appropriate for school leaders who are engaged in leading transformational change: school heads, directors of teaching and learning, curriculum leaders/IB coordinators, directors of student support, principals, instructional coaches, team leaders, teachers and counselors.