MTSS in TSD - Weekly Wednesday News

2022-2023 Series - Volume 24 (February 15, 2023)

TSD MTSS logo in navy and green letters

This is our twenty-fourth edition this year!

We use this newsletter to make connections regarding the implementation of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework in the Thompson School District (TSD).


> Access last week's edition.

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TSD MTSS logo in navy and green letters
This is the shape of a Cross or Compass - with a center circle at top, bottom, right, and left; all circles are connected to the center with gray bars; Thompson Educational Expectations is written in center black-colored circle with Learning Design in orange circle on left, Learning Delivery in red circle on right, Evaluations of Learning in green circle on bottom, Conditions for Learning in blue circle at top

Building Capacity and Encouraging Efficacy

In the last week, there have been multiple opportunities for conversations about "who" may be supported through coaching. We like to remind you that Coaching Practices can be replicated by any stakeholder...for any other. Although we respect (and revere!) the work of our district Instructional Coaches, we know that they (alone) are not coaching the entire system. Families and staff coach students. Leaders and administrators coach their staff or work teams, as well as other constituents. Students may coach each other...or even adults.


We aim to replicate coaching behaviors, not just the "title" of coach. Remember: Systems are not sustained by one person (alone). Systems implementation cannot be "person-specific" or "individual-dependent". Therefore, we do not want to imply that coaching is an action that only a designated staffer can implement. As we broaden our thinking in this regard, we realize that each of us "is a coach" - in one way or another...and for our partners across our learning community.


To that end, you will notice this week's newsletter seems a compilation of quotations. In fact, that is accurate and has been intentional. Powerful sentiments and/or summary statements emerged this week, and they resonate with and align to our Thompson Educational Expectations (TEE). Content "harvested" and "curated" for publication here focus on capacity-building and inspire/motivate efficacy development. A constant emphasis of MTSS implementation and each of the TEE Compass Points - and the TEE Compass, as a whole, is to support each stakeholder to be competent and feel confident. We should "make" (or invest!) the time, energy, and resources in high-impact strategies that reinforce our core beliefs - so that our values are visible in policies, procedures, and practices. In TSD, that means we must continue to commit to actualizing Strive 2025, TEE, and Educational Equity.

This is the shape of a Cross or Compass - with a center circle at top, bottom, right, and left; all circles are connected to the center with gray bars; Thompson Educational Expectations is written in center black-colored circle with Learning Design in orange circle on left, Learning Delivery in red circle on right, Evaluations of Learning in green circle on bottom, Conditions for Learning in blue circle at top
Brookes Publishing poster reads: "In inclusive classrooms, teachers continually use community building to ensure that students feel connected to another and to their teachers." From The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms, Second Edition, by Julie Causton and Kate MacLeod.

Words to Remember...

"Every child must be challenged, healthy, engaged, safe, supported, and know they belong. The whole student deserves the whole educator." - Keynote Address by Dr. Adolph Brown

(Panorama MTSS Level Up Virtual Summit, 2/9/23)

Brookes Publishing poster reads: "Multilingual Learners must receive enriched, engaging, and rigorous content-area language and literacy instruction for highly motivated and talented teachers over their entire school experience to keep pace with and even outperform English-speaking peers." From Special Education Considerations for Multilingual Learners, Third Edition, by Hamayan, Marler, Sanchez-Lopez, and Damico. It includes colorful, swirly lines in the shape of silhouettes of people's heads.
Slide screenshot from the Center on Multi-Tiered System of Supports at the American Institutes for Research. Slide heading is "Sources of Data to Inform MTSS Implementation." Icons from left to right are: bar graph, line graph with upward arrow, magnifying glass, and a checklist. Sub-headings from left to right that correspond to the icons and have text boxes underneath are Screening/Benchmarking, Progress Monitoring, Diagnostic Data, and Fidelity. The text boxes from left to right are: Helps identify students who may need more support, academically, behaviorally, SEL; Helps identify when an instructional change is needed; Helps identify how to adapt and/or modify instruction; Helps identify if implementation adjustments are needed before other changes.

Cook's quotable quotations...

Dr. Clay Cook (of Character Strong) shared insights about implementation science and systems change during the Panorama Level Up Your MTSS Virtual Summit on 2/9/23. Some highlights:


  • "Implementation boils down to adult behavior change."

  • "We can never expect students to bring more to the room than what educators are bringing."

  • "MTSS comes with lofty yet worthwhile goals, which is to continuously improve towards aligning systems and practices to ensure every student is able to access the type and level of support they need for success in school and life. A lukewarm commitment won't cut it."
Click to Review: School Leadership Teams

This short description of a Leadership Team comes from the Wisconsin RtI Center. Although this comes from another state, the brevity and clarity of some of the recommendations may be helpful. Some resources are included, as well, if interested.

White font text on black background, quotation reads: "We don't assign grades to students' we assign grades to performance. And just as performance is always temporary, grades, too, should always be temporary!" from Guskey 2021, Munk Debates
Quotation from TEDEd reads "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed." from Booker T. Washington
Screenshot of an infographic for the 5 Phases of PBL. From left to right: Project Planning, Project Launch, Project Implementation, Project Conclusion, and Project Debrief. Under each from left to right are: Bloom's Understanding and remember, Create, Understand and remember, Create, and Evaluate. Icons and arrows are decorative displays.
Quotation: "Instead of asking, 'Have I worked hard enough to deserve to rest?', I've started asking, 'Have I rested enough to do my most loving, meaningful work?'." from Nicola Jane Hobbs
Decorative teal patterned background with #T2T and a circle that reads: "Bite-Sized PD 'One of my favorite exit tickets is asking students to pretend a classmate was absent today and write them a letter sharing everything you learned from today's lesson." from Teacher Diana Guzman
Quotation by Simon Sinek from Leadership First reads: "When people feel safe enough to raise their hands and say, 'I made a mistake' or 'I need some help.' The leader has created an environment where people feel safe to be themselves."
Thompson School District Multi-Tiered System of Supports mountain logo from the Learning Services Dept.

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Thompson School District Multi-Tiered System of Supports mountain logo from the Learning Services Dept.
Outline of a mountain in blue with the words Thompson School District in blue at the low center of the mountain.

MTSS in TSD

Outline of a mountain in blue with the words Thompson School District in blue at the low center of the mountain.
Contact: Kim Z. Mannion
  • TSD Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Coordinator
800 South Taft Avenue, Loveland, CO, USA kim.mannion@tsd.org (970) 613-6833 thompsonschools.org/MTSS