GaMTSS
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Georgia’s Tiered System of Supports for Students (Georgia’s MTSS framework) is a prevention framework of evidence-based, system-wide practices to support a rapid response to academic and behavioral needs.
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38,874 students – The number of students in 61 Cohort 1-3 schools potentially impacted.
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“[Georgia’s Tiered System of Supports for Students] has given me the knowledge and experience to ensure that I am providing individualized instructions to my students based on their needs by using reliable, researched data.”
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Georgia educators are aligning to create a preventive framework to improve performance outcomes of all learners. Georgia's Tiered System of Supports for Students is continued implementation of Georgia's Systems of Continuous Improvement, the statewide plan to provide a tiered system of supports for the districts, schools, and students. The tiered system includes evidence-based interventions and screenings
that will provide the different levels of support needed to maximize student
achievement and reduce behavior problems.
Essential Components
Essential Component: Multi-Level Prevention System
Until now,
Georgia was the only state to have a four-tiered pyramid. Georgia operates
within a three-tiered, multi-level prevention system. Students receive
services at all levels, depending on their needs. When all components are
implemented, research shows results include strengthened Tier 1 instruction
with 80% of students responding to core curriculum.
Georgia's Tiered System of Supports for Students represents a cross-divisional effort among Teaching
and Learning, School and District Effectiveness, Federal Programs, Positive
Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and Special Education.
Cohorts
Through a competitive application process, the GaDOE selected 16 school districts and all Georgia's State Schools to participate in Cohorts 1 and 2; these districts are committed to
using evidence and research-based practices to empower their students to
learn, live and lead by graduation.
Each
district will receive support in measurement and evaluation, professional
learning and technical assistance, including coaching, necessary to support
implementation. Schools will receive multi-phase training and ongoing supports
for refinement and sustainability purposes.
Georgia's MTSS Implementation Step-By-Step Guidance
Professional Learning Modules
Two online MTSS courses are available through the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS). The first course provides an overview
of the framework and its five essential components. The second course, Georgia’s Tiered System of Supports for Students: Screening was designed to increase participant’s understanding of
Screening, an essential component of MTSS. It addresses how effective screening
tools may inform instruction and help identify students who are in need of
enrichment/acceleration or who are at risk for poor learning and/or poor
behavior outcomes. Click
here for a complete course overview or for here to access SLDS instructions.
Units of Study
- Overview and Expectations
- Screening
- Progress Monitoring
- Multi-Level Prevention System Tier 1
- Multi-Level Prevention System Tier 2
Georgia's Tiered System of Supports for Students is expected to become one of the primary guiding
frameworks for a continuous, data-based, school improvement process, supporting
academic, social emotional and behavioral achievement of all students to
prepare them to be successful high school graduates.
What You Need to Know
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires the use of evidence-based interventions and suggests that schools and districts implement a tiered system of supports. ESSA also allows state flexibility in using grant funds to implement a MTSS framework for literacy in kindergarten through grade 12 [Sec 2224(e)(4)].
House Bill 740 requires local school systems to use multi-tiered system of supports and reviews prior to expelling or assigning a
student in preschool through third grade to out-of-school suspension for more
than five consecutive or cumulative days during a school year.
High-Leverage Practices
The success of a Tiered System of Supports for
Students is dependent upon the use of High-Leverage Practices (HLPs). HLPs are a set of practices that are necessary to support
student learning, and that should be learned and implemented by all teachers.
Evidence-Based Practices
Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) are effective educational strategies supported by evidence and research. Strategies are generally considered effective instructional and behavioral practices rather than a set of prescribed instructional procedures, systematically implemented. When HLPs s are coupled with EBPs, they provide a continuum of supports that result in a rapid response to academic and behavioral needs.
Resources
