This brief developed by the Center on Great Teachers & Leaders outlines a framework for coherence that supports states in connecting college and career readiness standards, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), and educator effectiveness by capitalizing on their shared goal: improving instructional quality to enhance educational outcomes for students. The brief asks readers to examine the shared goals, context, and identify instructional connections across initiatives that support better learning outcomes for all students.

Although the components of MTSS are the same between elementary and secondary schools, implementation and application of them is different. High schools have unique contexts that must be considered when implementing. MTSS. This resource identifies considerations for teams as they design and implement MTSS in high school settings. Guiding questions are provided for each consideration to facilitate team conversations and action planning.

This brief addresses frequently asked questions (FAQs) about creating a workable schedule for faculty, staff, and students when establishing RTI. The document was designed to help guide practitioners during RTI implementation as they create or modify their existing school schedules. While the document may be helpful for elementary schools, it is targeted at secondary schools and was developed through discussions with middle schools representing 28 states across the nation.

This resource provides a definition of RTI, reviews essential RTI components, and responds to frequently asked questions. This document lays out four essential components of RTI: a school-wide, multi-level instructional and behavioral system for preventing school failure; screening; progress monitoring; and data-based decision making for instruction, movement within the multi-level system, and disability identification (in accordance with state law).

The MTSS Fidelity of Implementation Rubric and Summary Sheet are for use by individuals responsible for monitoring the school-level fidelity of MTSS implementation. They may also be used by schools for self-appraisal evaluation; however, they were not designed for compliance monitoring and therefore should not be used for this purpose. The rubric and the summary sheet are designed to be used together and are aligned with the essential components of MTSS.

After scores on the 2014 New York State English language arts assessment at P.S. 52 Sheepshead Bay School in Brooklyn were unsatisfactory, first-year principal Rafael Alvarez searched for a way to improve academic outcomes for his students, who come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and about a quarter of whom are English language learners. Alvarez and his leadership team discussed the large body of research on student improvement and decided to focus on improving student reading using Response to Intervention (RTI).