Three key considerations for math MTSS success

Build a strong foundation of support for educators 
Math can be a challenging subject for many students. Educators need foundational support, which includes the resources, time, and training to ensure a successful math MTSS implementation. When you use a data-driven intervention solution that’s compatible with your school’s resources, you unlock access to screening assessments, progress monitoring, and mastery monitoring — necessary tools for educators and accurate decision making. For example, with mastery monitoring, your educators can test students on mathematical concepts they’re learning that week rather than continually testing them on an end-of-year curriculum goal. Teachers can then leverage timely results to adjust the next week’s lesson plans and improve learning experiences. 

When it comes to training educators on these tools, remember that math MTSS is not a one-and-done approach. Instead, using a data-driven intervention solution, you can access ongoing coaching support to ensure long-term adoption and improvements. Training educators to continually interpret student results gives them the confidence to make decisions based on data. Additionally, to ensure consistency and reduce errors during intervention implementation, it’s best to provide scripted interventions with step-by-step instructions for educators.

Identify influencers and highlight success stories
Surfacing and celebrating early adopters’ success encourages organic buy-in and widespread implementation. A few educators can act as advocates for your MTSS program so others follow suit over time. And your principal plays a pivotal role in this process — providing classroom support and offering hands-on help with implementation.

Showcasing model programs or high-implementation sites is another effective way to encourage broader adoption. Sharing success stories and highlighting the positive outcomes of math MTSS implementation at other schools can motivate educators to adopt similar practices in their own classrooms. Model programs provide tangible evidence of how MTSS leads to improved math instruction and student success, further encouraging buy-in across schools and districts.

Unlock implementation metrics and research-proven interventions
With a data-driven intervention solution, you can measure implementation fidelity through a coaching dashboard. This performance view allows you to identify which classrooms are succeeding and flag classrooms with poor implementation. When this occurs, the data-driven intervention solution will recommend a visit from the coach (e.g., principal or instructional leader) to determine any additional support the educator may need. The bottom line is that implementation metrics are critical to identifying success stories and areas of need on an ongoing basis.

A data-driven intervention solution also ensures the right students are targeted for intervention and classwide intervention is provided when necessary. For example, if screening reveals that half the students in a given classroom are trailing their peers, educators likely lack the bandwidth to offer individualized interventions to each student.

However, with the right intervention solution in place, you can surface research-backed classwide intervention materials, allowing the educator to effectively and efficiently intervene and accelerate the progress of all students in their classroom. A data-driven intervention solution can also help you determine why classwide intervention is required in the first place, e.g., if there’s an issue with the curriculum itself. These insights allow educators to course correct in the long term and prevent similar intervention needs in the future.