Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)

Tier 1: Core Instruction and Universal Supports

MTSS is a system of instruction, not a system of interventions. 

Tier 1—not Tier 2 or Tier 3—must be the anchor of the entire MTSS framework, and that a healthy MTSS system serves all learners by providing both intervention and enrichment. 

Tier 1 Definition: Tier 1 includes high-quality instruction that is universally accessible and responsive to all students. Staff use Universal Design for Learning (UDL), evidence-based instructional strategies, and restorative practices to support academic, social, and emotional growth.

Tier 1 Success Criteria: A successful MTSS system ensures that the majority (approximately 80%) of students meet benchmarks with universal, evidence-based instructions and positive behavior support. If this threshold is not met, the focus must first be on strengthening core instruction. When Tier 1 is coherent, fewer students require intervention and those who do, receive more targeted support.

Tier 1 Key Characteristics:

• Strong, high quality core instruction aligned to standards and course outcomes
• High-quality instructional practices, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) instructional planning
• Rigorous grade-level expectations
• Consistent instructional expectations across classrooms
• Differentiation and scaffolded supports embedded into daily instruction
• Predictable classroom routines supporting executive functioning (planning, task initiation, organization, reflection)
• Social-emotional learning embedded through Wayfinder curriculum and the advisory program (26-27) at the freshman level)
• Schoolwide student supports available to all students (e.g., counseling access, academic support spaces (ARC/TLC), advisory/homeroom supports, activities and athletics that strengthen belonging/engagement)

Tier 1 SEL Supports:

• Social Work/Counseling Groups: students self-select groups and are approved by the facilitator. Groups focus on skill acquisition and target school functioning ensuring to avoid a therapy model.
• Hospitalization Reentry Team - Offers a structured, data-driven stabilization model embedded within MTSS, emphasizes educational impact and ensures reintegration decisions are measureable, documented and time-bound . It assigns clear leadership, mandates a 30-day monitoring window, and requires placement decisions aligned to established SEL, attendance, and behavior thresholds. Supports are temporary unless data indicates need for formal Tier 2 or Tier 3 intervention. 
• Alternative to Suspension - Offers restorative experience plans in lieu of suspension facilitated by Deans in collaboration with other stakeholders. Deans & stakeholders; 
  • Evaluate student’s sense of belonging,
  • Identify student’s needs (to feel heard, seen, and valued),
  • Engage in perspective taking and goal setting activities,
  • Develop a plan for how the student will repair the harm caused by their behavior,
  • Lead restorative conversations and experiences for suspended students.

Tier 2: Targeted Supplemental Supports

Tier 2 Definition: Tier 2 provides small-group, skills-based interventions for students who do not fully respond to Tier 1 supports where interventionists work with small groups of students on targeted skills during push-in or pull-out sessions.  

Tier 2 Success Criteria: Approximately 15-20% of students receive supplementary, small-group instruction.

Tier 2 Key Characteristics:

• Core classes that may receive Tier 2 intervention push-in based on need:
  • English I, II, III, American Studies: English, Perspectives: English
  • Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II
• Small-group targeted instruction focused on discrete skills
• Push-in and/or pull-out supports aligned to and supplement core instruction
  • Interventions are aligned with core instruction and incorporate foundational skills that support the learning objectives of core curriculum and instruction at Tier 1 
  • Interventions are standardized and planned through shared structures (PLC alignment, common planning)
  • Avoid becoming “pull-out disguised as push-in”
  • Use high-leverage moves such as scaffolding, checking for understanding, targeted small-group instruction, and station rotation teaching
  • Freshman Advisory pull-out may include the use of evidence-based interventions (Reading Plus, iReady, IXL) as a progress monitoring tool
  • SEL supports include, but are not limited to Check and Connect, Solution Based Counseling, DBT, CBT, Rush Executive Functioning   

Tier 3: Intensive and Individualized Supports

Tier 3 Definition: Tier 3 supports are reserved for students with the most intensive needs and are delivered with higher frequency, intensity, and individualization. 

Tier 3 Success Criteria: Approximately 5-10% of students receive daily, individualized instruction.  

Tier 3 Key Characteristics:

• Intensive instruction delivered in a separate class using evidence-based intervention programs, such as Reading Plus, iReady, IXL, Check and Connect, Solution Based Counseling, DBT, CBT, Rush Executive Functioning 
• SEL/wellness and support for students experiencing trauma, and/or higher needs based on outlined criteria.
• Implementation with high fidelity and progress monitoring

Tier 3 Evidence-based Intervention Programs 

District 113 utilizes a range of research-based interventions at the Tier III level to support students with intensive academic and SEL needs. These interventions are chosen for their evidence of effectiveness and their ability to provide targeted, skill-based instruction in literacy and mathematics.

Reading Plus is an adaptive reading program used in Academic Literacy I that supports silent reading fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary development. It adjusts the level and complexity of reading passages based on student performance and encourages students to engage with texts that build stamina and depth of understanding. 

Lexia Learning is an adaptive literacy program used in Academic Literacy II designed to support high school students who need intensive reading intervention. It provides personalized, skill-based practice in areas such as decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension, adjusting automatically to each student’s level. Students work independently through targeted lessons while teachers receive data to monitor progress and provide additional support.

i-Ready Math combines a diagnostic tool with personalized instruction to address specific skill deficits in mathematics. It provides real-time data to teachers and aligns instruction to the student’s needs, supporting remediation in foundational math concepts through engaging, interactive lessons.

Check and Connect is a structured, research-based intervention designed to support students at risk of disengagement. This model involves a mentor who establishes a long-term relationship with the student, monitoring their academic performance, attendance, and behavior while providing regular, personalized feedback and problem-solving strategies. Check and Connect is highly individualized and helps students set goals, build resilience, and stay connected to school. It is often used in Tier III settings for students demonstrating persistent academic or behavioral challenges and is implemented with increased frequency and duration compared to Tier II versions of the intervention.

These interventions are scheduled with fidelity and implemented with small student-teacher ratios to maximize their impact. Placement decisions are made based on multiple data points, and students' progress is closely monitored to ensure effectiveness.

Solution Based Counseling Focuses on constructing solutions rather than analyzing problems. Its primary goal is to help define a clear, preferred future and identify practical steps toward achieving it. This approach emphasizes strengths, existing resources, and moments when the problem is less severe or absent. Interventionists guide students to recognize these “exceptions” and amplify what is already working. The process is future-oriented, collaborative, and grounded in the belief that small changes can produce meaningful system-wide impact. Progress is typically measured through concrete, observable goals and scaling questions. It is used to improve attendance, behavior, engagement, and coping skills while remaining focused on functional outcomes. 

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Is a structured, evidence-based approach to support students with intense emotional dysregulation and high-risk behaviors. It is used for depression, trauma-related disorders, substance misuse, and adolescent behavioral concerns. DBT integrates cognitive-behavioral strategies with mindfulness practices that balances acceptance and change. The core goal is to help students build skills to regulate emotions, tolerate distress, improve interpersonal effectiveness, and increase present-moment awareness. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Is a structured, evidence-based approach that focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. CBT is based on the principle that distorted or unhelpful thinking patterns contribute to emotional distress and maladaptive behavior. The primary goal is to help students identify, challenge, and replace inaccurate or negative thoughts with more balanced and realistic ones. CBT uses practical strategies such as cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation, exposure techniques, and skills practice. 

Rush Executive Functioning has a focus on assessing and improving the cognitive processes that support planning, organization, time management, emotional regulation, task initiation, and goal-directed behavior. These services are designed for those experiencing attention, learning, or behavioral challenges. The primary goal is to identify strengths and deficits in executive skills and develop targeted strategies to improve daily functioning. 
 

A universal screener is a brief assessment process used to analyze academic and social-emotional behavior (SEB) data for all students in a class, grade, school, or district. Its purpose is to identify students who may need additional support to meet learning goals and to ensure students are growing at equitable and appropriate rates.

Universal screeners are:

• Standardized – Administered in the same format to all students
• Norm-based – Compare student performance and growth to peers
• Criterion-referenced – Identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes
• Brief and accurate – Typically completed in 5–30 minutes while providing reliable data

As part of a comprehensive assessment system and MTSS framework, universal screening data informs instructional decisions at every level—from classroom planning to district-wide resource allocation—while maximizing efficiency in time, cost, and professional learning.

D113 uses two universal screeners as academic and social-emotional assessments:

Renaissance STAR

• Administered 3 times per year in English and math classes for students in grades 9, 10, 11
• Used as one measure to assign tiered support for students in grades 9, 10, and 11
• Used to assess student growth from one assessment window to the next
• Used as one measure to determine entrance and exit criteria into tiered levels of support

Panorama Student SEL Survey

• Administered 3 times a year to all students
• Is a research-based assessment tool designed to measure students’ social-emotional competencies, perceptions of school climate, and sense of belonging
• Collects student-reported data on constructs such as self-management, growth mindset, social awareness, emotional regulation, and supportive relationships
• Primary goal is to provide schools with actionable data that informs tiered supports, instructional planning, and MTSS decision-making
   

Data-based decision making is used to evaluate the movement of students within and out of tiers. Common protocols are utilized to determine intensification, resource allocation, and referral for case study.

Academic Entrance/Exit Criteria

D113 uses the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) proficiency benchmarks to assess whether a student is on track in their learning. The proficiency benchmark is the score a student needs to reach on a state assessment to be considered on track for their grade level. Performance is evidence that students are or are not prepared for the academic demands of the next grade and are progressing toward the academic expectations of the next grade, which serve as a foundation for the pursuit of college and careers. 

Entrance criteria into Tier 2 and Tier 3 is based on proficiency benchmarks on the PreACT, middle school IAR and other assessments, STAR universal screener, and is informed by multiple sources of information such as current course and course grades in core subjects, as determined by the MTSS Leadership Team in collaboration with English and Math Department Chairs. Please note that student grades, due to their subjectivity, are a small component of the overall data picture. Grades, along with attendance and behavior referrals are reviewed to obtain a fuller picture of the student.  

Exit criteria from Tier 2 and Tier 3 is based on growth using the STAR Student Growth Percentile (SGP) and percentile ranking. Average growth is SGP ~50. If Tier 2 and Tier 3 students only average ~50, many will remain behind relative to their peers. Accelerated growth must occur if students are to exit tiered supports. Tier 3 exit will occur at the semester and Tier 2 exit may occur at the end of each progress monitoring cycle. 

SEL

Panorama’s intervention tracking platform is used to document, monitor, and evaluate student-level support within the MTSS framework. It centralizes intervention records so interventionists can link supports directly to data indicators such as attendance, behavior incidents, grades, and SEL screener results.

Interventions are logged by tier, type, duration, frequency, and responsible staff member. The system allows teams to assign progress-monitoring metrics such as attendance rate change, referral reduction, SEL scale growth and set review dates. Notes can be documented to support compliance and team decision-making.
 

Progress monitoring is the repeated measurement of student performance over time to determine how well a student is responding to instruction and intervention. It relies on reliable, valid tools and a clearly defined process implemented with fidelity.

Progress monitoring data is used to:

• Assess student performance
• Measure growth and responsiveness to intervention
• Evaluate the effectiveness of instruction, interventions, and supports
• Inform decisions about continuing, adjusting, intensifying, or exiting supports

Monitoring may include academic and behavioral indicators such as:

• Skill mastery and essential standards
• Grades and course performance trends
• Attendance patterns
• Use of targeted academic or SEL skills

Progress monitoring ensures that intervention decisions are data-based, timely, and responsive to student needs.