LEAven Blog

One of the very big questions in Christian ministry is, “How do we meet the needs of our students who are struggling to learn?”

Good question!

As a ministry, we want to keep our doors open to those families that want a Christ-centered learning environment for their children, despite any learning differences the child might exhibit.

The Multi-Tiered Student Support System (MTSS) is the answer. It consists of seeing the child holistically—academically, behaviorally, and emotionally. It is the base of Response to Intervention (RtI). Let me explain.

As a school, you already know your students. One of the biggest reasons parents want their child in a private, Christian school is the small classes, the personalized attention, and the fact that the child has a place to be known and fit in. You’ve got the base of the pyramid covered.

From there, we move into Tier 1. All schools are already using Tier 1 practices. This is just basic teaching. Everyday lessons, procedures, and processes that involve at least 80% of the students.

From there, it gets a little gray, but I got you! Tier 2.

In Tier 1, schools assess. Many schools use some sort of standardized assessment, such as NWEA, Acadience, MAPS, etc. Upon completion, those assessments give school-wide data that can be aggregated down to class and individual data. That’s where Tier 2 comes in.

As a school, taking that data and seeing where students are struggling introduces Tier 2 practices into classrooms. Students in this category are those whose scores put them in an orange, yellow, or red category, indicating a need for further support. It can also be the students doing exceptionally well, the students on the other end of the spectrum, who need academic challenges, not just support.

A big question schools ask here is, “How do we differentiate for students in Tier 2?” As a team, administrators and teachers would have to look at the specific areas of need indicated in the assessment results. Needs might be letter/sound ability, phonemes, graphemes, number sense, basic math facts…any number of things. That’s where small, flexible grouping can be used, more class time spent on those areas of need, extra teaching or activities with a classroom aide, etc, can be utilized to close the gap.

But don’t forget students on the higher end of the color spectrum, the blue. They also need special care and attention as they’re advanced and will need to be challenged. They can do advanced work that digs deeper into either the content or the skill.

Personally, my go-to is always small groups. Research shows teaching in flexible, small groups can yield many benefits. The key here is “flexible.” This means the participants change depending on their needs. How to group?

Step 1: Group students according to their specific needs—letter/sound patterns, phonemes, prosody, comprehension, inferring, etc. Remember, the assessment will tell you.

Step 2: Decide how your groups will “move.” What always worked for me was large group instruction for as many minutes as the age of the students I was teaching. So, if I were teaching fourth graders, they would be about nine years old. I would teach a lesson to the whole class for no more than ten minutes; then, we’d move into our small groups. Each group would have time with me, time to work together in their small group, and time to work alone. If I had an aide, they would work there, as well.

Step 3: Set expectations. We had practiced moving into groups and the work and behaviors expected when in small groups. Was it always perfect? No. But over time, it was hugely successful. The key? Focusing on the assessment results and being flexible to meet the specific needs of the students in those yellow, orange, and red bars.

From there, go for it! Watch your students grow not only academically but also in their independence.

Panorama Photo Credit: https://www.panoramaed.com/blog/mtss-umbrella