Level Up with Literacy
The State Support Team 1 Literacy Newsletter
Shared Leadership in Literacy and MTSS
Monitoring and implementing an effective district or school-wide literacy plan to ensure all learners receive equitable access to rigorous and evidence-based Tier 1 instruction and supports across the literacy & language continuum is hard work!
This is why in our last issue, we explored the importance of shared leadership. (If you missed it, you can read the December's Level Up with Literacy here.) Leadership centered in equity should ensure that representation for all learners is present and actively contributing to overall school improvement efforts.
This month, we take a look at how shared leadership is a critical component of implementing and monitoring effective Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).
Ohio's Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement and MTSS *
The Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) structure provides a framework for supporting learners based on their unique needs. It can guide staff in designing effective instruction and appropriate interventions as part of school improvement efforts.
The MTSS System:
- includes a continuum of evidence-based, system-wide practices to address academic and behavioral needs
- calls for frequent, data-based monitoring to inform instructional decision-making
- addresses the varied, often complex needs of learners
A multi-tiered system of supports for reading includes a three-tier model of instruction to provide effective core instruction and address reading difficulties as quickly as possible. Under this model, each tier adds a level of intensity that is designed to accelerate the learner’s rate of learning and avoid learners requiring intervention for multiple years (Kilpatrick, 2015).
As a learner responds positively to the instruction, the intensity is gradually faded. The movement within the tiers of instruction is fluid and data-based, and the tiers represent instruction and supports, not categories of students.
* MTSS information in this section is adapted from Ohio's Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement
Instructional Supports
Supporting Students with Disabilities
For MTSS to be effective it must meet the unique needs of each learner and professionals involved in the planning process must mirror learners receiving instruction. OCALI provides an organized planning tool to help support the development of lessons in the team planning process that helps ensure access for all.
System-wide Supports
Using the Reading Tiered Fidelity Inventory
The Reading Tiered Fidelity Inventory (R-TFI) gives Building Leadership Teams the ability to assess the implementation of a School-wide Reading Model*. The R-TFI is designed for use within a data-based decision-making process in coordination with student outcome data.
Additional Resources:
School-wide Reading Model
- systems to address the continuum of reading needs across the student body,
- evidence-based practices focused on the Big Ideas of Reading designed to improve reading outcomes for all students, and
- data use and analysis.
MTSS Tools for Supporting Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners
The Ohio Department of Education provides checklists to assist schools in the development of processes to ensure English Language Learners, including those with disabilities, receive equal education opportunities and timely intervention to enable progress in school.
MTSS Tool for Supporting Literacy Instruction for Gifted Learners
In consideration of all students, we must reframe the standard protocol interventions to offer additional enrichment, challenge, and enhancement for learners with strengths in the targeted area.
You may find this informational worksheet helpful in your work in this area.
More MTSS Resources
Additional MTSS tools are available from the Massachusetts Department of Education. They were created in collaboration with Katie Novak, a national presenter in UDL who has presented throughout the State of Ohio.
Madison Avenue School of Arts
Lindsey Day, School Leader at Imagine Madison Avenue School of Arts sets an incredible example of how effective Shared Leadership is a critical component of Using Literacy as a Lever for School Improvement. Ms. Day has been leading her building through a change initiative and has stayed the course of the building’s plan and it shows in student outcomes.
- Staff representation for all learners on the Community School Leadership Team
- Leadership utilizes a decision-making process to select & deselect curriculum & assessment tools aligned to the Big Ideas of Reading
- Teachers are supported in providing evidence-based strategies with fidelity through the use of a literacy coaching
State Special Education Profile Data indicates a 20.83% gain in reading proficiency for students with disabilities from the 17-18 school year to the 18-19 school year.
Imagine Madison Avenue has also teamed up with State Support Team 1 for assistance in facilitating the Reading Tiered Fidelity Inventory, Elementary Edition to evaluate their Tier 1 School-Wide Reading Model with their leadership team. The next steps are to use the data to support their completion of the One Needs Assessment & CCIP.
Thank you, Ms. Day and Imagine Madison Avenue for your commitment to literacy and school improvement!
Emergent Literacy: Building Print Awareness
March 5 | Part 3 of 3
Explore the significance of print awareness and how to use read-alouds as a tool for print referencing and building meta-linguistic awareness in young children.
Heggerty Professional Development
NEW DATE: March 9 | 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
The February 16 event was postponed due to weather. Join us for an introduction to the Heggerty Curriculum, and learn how to put it into practice and begin using it with fidelity.
STAR: Sit Together and Read
March 12: STAR at Home
This two-part series will share interactive and innovative read aloud practices for teachers and caregivers to advance emergent literacy skills.
Literacy Leaders Network
March 16
April 20
May 11
June 8
Learn the processes needed to create, update, or improve your district’s literacy plan based solidly in the Science of Reading.
Supporting Teachers of Students with Complex Needs
March 17
April 21
May 12
Support literacy development with evidence-based strategies learn how to help students with complex needs grow their literacy skills.
Adolescent Literacy Leaders Network
Investigate the complex nature of building and advancing literacy skills across all academic disciplines, and explore the practices that address the six essential domains of adolescent literacy instruction.
Other Learning Opportunities
Ohio Literacy Academy: On Demand
View the guides for each learning strand, along with videos and classroom activities >>
International Dyslexia Foundation's 32nd Annual Symposium
The Reading League
The Reading League is led by educators and reading experts and offers professional development, live events, and publications for educators.
We are here for you!
Please feel free to reach out if you have questions or need guidance on instruction, increasing educator capacity, shared leadership, or any other literacy-related topic.
Email: info@sstr1.org
Website: sstr1.org
Location: 2275 Collingwood Blvd., Suite C, Toledo, OH, USA
Phone: 419.720.8999
Twitter: @SST_Region_1
There are no copyright restrictions on this document; however, please cite and credit the source when copying all or part of this document. This document was supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, (Award #H027A200111, CFDA 84.027A, awarded to the Ohio Department of Education). The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, and no official endorsement by the Department should be inferred.