The Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) is an early intervention approach to arranging preschool experiences to solve this problem. It is considered early intervention because changes in instruction are made when evidence indicates a child is not making progress in the core curriculum (Tier 1) experience. Differentiating instruction is the term used to refer to changing a child’s classroom literacy experiences, making them more intensive with greater opportunity to learn. In MTSS, waiting for a child to improve is not an option – we adjust instructional experiences as soon as evidence indicates a child is not making progress.
What Does MTSS Look Like?
- Universal screening to identify those children in a program not making progress
- A decision-making model that identifies children not responding to intervention so that they may receive more intensive instructional support in a timely fashion
- Multiple tiers of evidence-based support (Tiers 1, 2, and 3) available to provide the individual level of support needed
- Tier 1 – Core literacy instruction provided to all children
- Tier 2 – Supplemental instruction provided to children not making progress
- Tier 3 – Adapted instruction provided to children with very weak skills
4. Ongoing measurement of the progress of children over time for those for whom additional intervention support is being provided
The work described on this website is developing and validating intervention and measurement tools for use in preschool MTSS.
For more information on implementing preschool MTSS, see the Annotated Bibliography PDF.