Creating a Multi-Tiered System of Supports in Middle School

The 20 years I spent as a middle school teacher taught me many things—the most important of which is the fact that middle school students, and tweens in general, are absolutely different from their elementary and high school counterparts. I think of them as neither caterpillars nor butterflies. They are instead the gooey substance in the cocoon rebuilding themselves into the young adults they want to be. As such, this process of transformation leads them to make academic, social and emotional, and behavioral mistakes.

As stated in Putting Middle Grades Students on the Graduation Path: A Policy and Practice Brief, from the Association for Middle Level Education, “Young adolescents’ personal development and academic growth during these middle grades years can dramatically impact their futures.” That’s why middle schools are the perfect place to create a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).

A successful MTSS site is systematically structured with the knowledge that academic, social and emotional, and behavioral achievement all depend on each other. It demonstrates that not all academic, social and emotional, and behavioral barriers need the same supports or require the same consequences. It also has a staff that is dedicated to helping students remove those barriers and a collaborative belief that all adults on campus have a role to play in supporting all students.

Nevertheless, creating an MTSS program at the secondary level is a beast. The siloed subject areas that suddenly appear in middle school can unintentionally create barriers to setting up a successful tiered system. This can make it appear that huge changes are needed when, in fact, successful tiered systems don’t need to be elaborate to be effective. MTSS is also about flexibility. It’s about honoring variety as the norm and assuming that all students have barriers for one thing or another—just as adults do.

MTSS ELEMENTS IN SUCCESSFUL MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Schools that are successful in supporting all students academically, socially and emotionally, and behaviorally have established patterns. To learn more about these patterns, I examined the traits and programs found in the middle schools highlighted in the Schools to Watch network.

I compared those practices with the characteristics illustrated in the Association for Middle Level Education’s book The Successful Middle School: This We Believe, and developed a list of qualities that can be tiered to support all students. Some require greater restructuring than others. For instance, in elementary classrooms, WIN (What I Need) time can be accomplished within a block of time in a single educator’s classroom. However, at the secondary level, you have to manipulate the schedule itself to allow students to fluidly go where they need the most help each day.

Some qualities are easier to implement, like having students on committees, interview panels, and other decision-making councils. Some are things to put in place immediately, while others might take more intentional and long-term planning.

WITH MTSS, IT’S ALL HANDS ON DECK, INCLUDING IN DECISION-MAKING

A Multi-Tiered System of Supports can appear in the fabric of every part of the middle school day, from the structure of the master schedule and its offerings to the universal practices found in all classrooms.

It’s important to note that with any large shift, the school community needs to be involved. The perspectives of teachers, counselors, and especially students are vital.

Administrators can create a committee for such changes and have that group create a timeline for when those shifts need to be made. Use backward planning to strategize how those changes can be made. For instance, let’s say a middle school wants to create an embedded WIN time three times a week. In my own district, this discussion has been ongoing. We have seen the model work through fellow middle schools in the Schools to Watch network (we’ve been a member since 2023). The goal is to allow teachers to request students to work with them and students to request to get help in specific subjects. With MTSS, it’s all hands on deck.

During middle school WIN time, counselors can meet with students who may need social and emotional learning or behavioral support. Math teachers offer support in different standards. The English language arts teachers can each tackle different literacy skills so that students can be dispatched as needed. A physical education teacher may be running a study hall while another helps students finish their fitness portfolios. Our team has had struggles in conceptualizing attendance during such fluid periods. We’re entertaining a model whereby a student is assigned quarterly WIN time room assignments based on screener data.

Currently, the tiered intervention model uses both intervention periods and push-in opportunities. Students exit the intervention class to get an additional elective if the data says they are ready. However, not all students’ needs are met with only one reading and one math interventionist per site. Therefore, intervention also has to involve the general education teachers.

Assessments are another area of potential in an MTSS. Yes, there are universal screeners three times a year for all students, with possible follow-up diagnostics as needed. But all assessments need not be standardized. Data can be negatively impacted if assessments aren’t real-world, authentic, and engaging for middle school students. Using portfolios to capture self-reflected growth over time, service-learning projects to ensure that middle school students are connected to the community, and project-based learning leveraging inquiry and student curiosity will provide vital and more authentic data points to support or negate those standardized screeners.

Have departments reach consensus on what common practices they agree to try first so that they can reflect and try others soon thereafter. Not everything needs to happen at once.

Here is the full list of qualities of MTSS in middle schools in more detail.

The Mindset of MTSS

Think back to the goo that resides in our tweens’ brains as they develop during these vital years. It creates barriers to learning. That’s why so many middle school students repeat mistakes over and over again. Many middle school experts use the car metaphor, with tweens having great accelerators but lousy brakes. Those who are lucky enough to work with middle school students know that these barriers to learning are unique to this particular chapter in life. It’s vital that all staff be committed to and knowledgeable about brain research regarding adolescents. It’s important for all staff to be committed to and knowledgeable about equitable practices. It’s essential for all staff to foster strong relationships with students by understanding and adapting to individual adolescent needs. 

It takes a lot of effort and understanding about tweens and teens to move the needle with them, but getting a smile out of a middle school student is, in itself, Tier 1 intervention. If you can get a smile out of a student during such a challenging chapter of life, you’re already making a positive impact on achievement.