Tiered support-RTI-MTSS...regular classroom teachers are on the frontline each and everyday. They are the backbone of the whole framework, so what do the tiers REALLY mean for teachers? In this post, I'm going to focus on Core (Tier 1) which is often the easiest to look at but the hardest to fix.
I wanted to know for myself what my responsibility is in this whole framework, so I pulled up the resources for my state and dug in. Yes, I'm just a Curriculum Geek like that! 😊
Our district has been training on this "framework" for years. They've tried to explain "core" over and over again; yet as a teacher I wanted to really understand what is expected of ME for each tier. Below is a summary of my own interpretations of what I found. I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts in the comments below based on your own knowledge and interpretations.
Core support (Tier 1)-The whole idea is based around the idea that regular classroom instruction is supposed to meet the needs of 80% of the students in the school and in your class. If this isn't happening, then you need to strengthen core instruction. So what does that mean and what does it look like for classroom teachers?
All wrapped up in one short idea-reflective practitioner! Sounds easy enough, yet this seems to be THE hardest step for most schools and teachers to wrap their heads around (including me). So I thought, what does this really mean for ME?
For ME, it means each and every time I assess the students in my classroom I compare their results to the 80% model.
-Classroom reading test...did 80% of my students pass or meet mastery?
If not, then who didn't, why do I think they didn't, and what can I do to try to get them there? -Quarterly benchmark...who didn't meet 80% proficiency?
Why do I think they didn't and what can I do to get them there?
Me admitting that I didn't meet the needs of 80% of my students isn't me admitting that I'm a bad teacher, it's just me reflecting on who, why and what can I do to help those students "get it."
It's my job, as their teacher!
So I reflect on my environment, instructional practices and curriculum and make changes. I will admit, when I recently looked at my mid year data, I was not at 80% and that upset me, but not in a personal beat myself up kind of way, just in the way that I want ALL of my students to be successful so what do I need to do to meet their needs?
I started by looking at which students were not meeting the 80% and I noticed my EC students weren't (ok that's not a surprise, they are working below grade level...growing but not there yet and already getting additional support), it wasn't my students who go to the reading specialist (again growing, just not there yet but already getting additional support). For me this go round it was a student who just hadn't been him/herself since returning from winter break so just reteaching wasn't going to be enough to get them going in the right direction. They needed ME to support their social/emotional well being each and everyday. So I talked to our admin team, talked to the counselor, and scheduled time for the 2X10 strategy into my day and made it a priority (just talk to the students for 2 minutes a day for 10 minutes straight). Those things are a LOT different than just reteaching, but until I help this particular student with those things, the academics aren't going to change and I'll admit...THOSE THINGS AREN'T MY GO TO when a student isn't performing academically!
Core support doesn't stop there...there's more-AAAHHHHH! More than my teacher brain can hold, right?
It also means me privately comparing myself to my grade level colleagues. Not in the "she's a better teacher than me" kind of way, but it's ok for us as teachers to LEARN FROM EACH OTHER without being competitive!
In other words, I need to know where I stand on the grade level. If all of our percentages are close to each other (even if not at 80%) then we are all doing similar things that are working for our classes. We can just brainstorm where is our area of weakness and make curriculum, instruction, environment changes together as a grade level.
BUT what if my percentages are much lower than my colleagues? Does that mean I'm a horrible teacher? Does it mean I'm less capable then my colleagues? Does it mean I got a bad group of kids? NO-NO and NO! It doesn't mean any of those things, it just means that maybe my colleagues have figured out some things that work for their kiddos that I haven't yet and here's the hard part...I MIGHT have to do things out of my personal comfort zone for the good of my kiddos!
UUGGGHHH! THERE IT IS...THE HARD PART! Doing things I'm not comfortable with is not something I enjoy. All kinds of doubt floods my mind. How will I make this work? What if I don't know how to do that? How will I teach my kids to handle that, at this point in the year? Can't I just wait and try that next year?
Those are all legitimate questions and concerns BUT you ARE a GREAT teacher...so don't be afraid to shine and try something new in your classroom.
Do a little research like reading an article or blog on the topic, talk to the teachers already doing it and form a plan of action and GO FOR IT! Who knows? It just might work and if not, then there's nothing lost-just abandon ship and try again.
It's ok to try new things-sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. Just take the risk and GO FOR IT! You might surprise yourself and your kiddos and sometimes all they need is a little change of pace to go along with some reteaching to make a really big difference.
To sum it up, when you're looking at changing your overall percentage of students that have mastered a concept, sometimes all it takes is a little reteaching but if that's getting you nowhere then go a little deeper and try something new with your environment or instruction.
YOU ARE A TEACHER, A REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER AND YOU WERE BORN TO TRY NEW THINGS!
Click "Follow" to be sure you don't miss the next 2 posts in this series...Tier 2 and Tier 3. They are coming soon and you don't want to miss them.
