MTSS Readiness vs Fidelity

Is Your School Ready for MTSS Success This Year?

I love the start of the school year! I love the anticipation of meeting new students and staff and that full-of-promise feeling. At some point come mid-fall that back-to-school buzz begins to wears off. It’s at that time that we start getting pulled in a hundred different directions. If you’re on a MTSS team of any kind it’s important to remember that the start of the school year is a fresh slate—not just for students, but for your MTSS leadership team too. The choices you make now can set the tone for how smooth (or bumpy) your MTSS work will be by spring. In this blog post I’ll share a few activities that you and your team can do to keep your teams traveling on the right path.

1. Complete a Readiness Check
Use a readiness checklist (like the one in the Strong Start Bundle) to see if your people, systems, and resources are in place. This isn’t about judging—it’s about spotting gaps before they become roadblocks. First, I want to mention a common issue I see is that many schools are jumping into MTSS before they’ve taken stock of their current status of practices and before they have an understanding of how they’ll need to adjust for MTSS. if you’re early in your MTSS journey I recommend kicking off the year with a quick MTSS readiness check. It’s like taking your system’s temperature alongside your team so you collectively have a sense of the work ahead.

Some people confuse readiness for fidelity but—readiness isn’t the same as fidelity.

  • Readiness is about whether you have the right people, tools, and systems in place to even start strong.

  • Fidelity is about whether you’re actually doing the work the way it’s meant to be done, once you’re up and running.

  • Think of it this way: readiness is making sure you’ve packed all the right gear before the hike; fidelity is making sure you’re staying on the trail and following the map once you start walking.

2. Revisit Your “Why”
Gather your MTSS leadership team and revisit your school’s vision for MTSS. Why are you doing this work? How does it connect to student success and equity? Examine how you’re communicating this vision to the rest of the staff throughout the school year. A strong “why” keeps momentum going when things get busy. At your first leadership team meeting do a brief activity asking everyone to share why they wanted to be a part of the leadership team. Or perhaps they can share one success from last year that happened as a result of your school’s MTSS efforts.

3. Review Tier 1 Data and Systems
Before you think about Tier 2 or Tier 3, check in on your Tier 1 instruction and supports. Start by reviewing your data from last year and maybe the last several years if you have consistent data sources. Are all teachers aware of and committed to use high impact, explicit instructional strategies? Are classroom routines consistent and aligned with schoolwide expectations? Remember—research shows that when Tier 1 is strong first then Tiers 2 and 3 are more likely to have high fidelity implementation which leads to better student success.

A little intentional planning in August or September can make your MTSS work smoother, more focused, and way less stressful all year long. If you’re still feeling unsure of your year-long planning then join us in the MTSS Implementation Network. We’ve got the MTSS Readiness Checklist, a checklist for leadership teams, sample year long agenda, and a goal setting Google sheet template are just a few examples of the resources available to members.

Erin Chaparro