Using Early MTSS to Combat the Pandemic�s Educational Inequities
Using Early MTSS to Combat the Pandemic’s Educational Inequities
Presented by
Judy Carta & Robin Miller Young
University of Kansas Northern Illinois University
May 27, 2020
COVID-19 WILL EXPLODE ACHIEVEMENT GAPS IN EDUCATION
Reflecting on some of the ways the pandemic may affect children from families in marginalized communities
- Extreme stresses on families
- Loss of wages, housing
- Food insecurity
- Greater likelihood of family members contracting Covid-19
- Costs of caring for sick family members
- Family separations due to quarantining
- Higher likelihood of families in essential jobs but limited child care availability
- More densely populated households
- Family stressors
- Can affect family members’ mental health (depression and anxiety)
- Make it more difficult for families to engage in responsive interactions with children
- Increase risks for domestic violence and child abuse and neglect
Reflecting on some of the ways the pandemic may affect child care and early education
- Child care/early education may close removing an important source of stability/predictability in some children’s lives
- Children will lose important opportunities for social interaction
- Children will lose out on important learning opportunities
- Some children’s families will not have internet access so children will miss out on online opportunities for learning and interaction
- Some children will not have access to healthy meals and health surveillance that are often available in child care/early education
The Pandemic will affect children in poverty for a longer period of time compared to other children.
- It will take longer for families to recover from the economic downturn.
- It will take longer for children to get into quality child care.
- The “learning gap” for children in poverty will only increase in time without intervention.
Life Long Learning Trajectories
“Catching Up is Hard to Do”
Children from Mid SES
Ready to learn
Strategies to Improve Children’s Learning Outcomes
Factors associated with school readiness
Early Preschool
Not all children will be adversely affected
- Family Protective factors (see Strengthening Families)
- Family resilience-parents who know how to manage stress in face of adversity
- Social connections-relationships that provide support
- Knowledge of parenting and child development
- Concrete support-parents who have access to basic needs, services and supports
- Responsive interactions with children that foster development
- Some children will continue to get early educational support and instruction
www.strengtheningfamilies.net
What Role Can Early Education Programs Play in Reducing the Gap?
Re-opening Preschool in Fall 2020: Some of the pressing questions driving decision-making
- Who are the children who need urgent social-emotional support?
- Are there children who need more than the Core Curriculum?
- Do we need to enhance our Core Curriculum to meet the needs of all children in the program? (social-emotional and other domains)?
- How do ensure that children get the support and instruction they need in whatever type of learning environment (in-person, remote learning, hybrid)?
- How do children respond to instruction--are they making progress?
- What interventions do we have for children who need more than the Core Curriculum?
MTSS can provide some of the tools we need to address some of these questions.
What is MTSS?
A whole-school data-driven framework for improving learning outcomes for ALL students delivered through a continuum of evidence-based practices and systems.
How can an Early MTSS system reduce the pandemic’s effects? Educators can . . .
• Identify young children who may be struggling to reach learning targets and perform essential adaptive skills
• Intervene early so children stay on-track and achieve important outcomes
• Develop early academic, behavioral and social-emotional competencies
How is MTSS different from typical early education practice?
In typical early education practice:
With MTSS:
We don’t usually systematically address the range of individual differences that exist across children.
We identify children who need additional supports right away,
One size fits all.
We match children’s strengths/needs to interventions
We often wait for significant delays of varying intensities before we provide additional support
We provide interventions within a continuum of evidence-based practices within general education settings.
Decreased individualization, intensity, and frequency of instruction
Layered Continuum of Supports
• Multiple tiers
• Tiers are additive
• Seamless boundaries
• Movement through tiers
Tier 1 is foundation
• Tiers for different skills and/or domains
Seven Core Components / Defining Features
- Shared Leadership
- Family, School, and Community Partnerships
- Emphasis on Fidelity
- Data-Based Decision Making
High Quality early childhood environments promote positive outcomes for all children
The Pyramid Model: Promoting Social Supportive responsive relationships among and Emotional adults and children Competence and is an essential Addressing component to promote healthy social emotional Challenging development Behavior
http://challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu
Seven Core Components: Defining Features
- Shared Leadership
- Evidence-Based Practices
- Family, School, and Community Partnerships
- Emphasis on Fidelity
- Layered Continuum of Supports
- Data-Based Decision Making
- Universal Screening: are students achieving targeted benchmarks? Is the Core curriculum effective? If not, what changes should be made?
- Which students/families need more support and/or services? What changes should be made to ensure success?
Universal Screening
- PURPOSE: determines how well core curriculum is working for the majority of students
- TOOLS: very brief assessments on key elements of the curriculum; these are NOT the same as developmental screening tools
- FOCUS: all students
Tier 2—how to provide additional support
1. Problem solving approach:
Individualized approach; Students’ needs are met through targeted strategies --explicit instruction --increased opportunities to respond --more adult models --can be used to address SE or preacademic area
2. Standard protocol:
Standard evidence-based approach that targets a specific area of need for groups of students
Examples of Tier 2 Interventions in Early Literacy/Language
Examples of Tier 2 Interventions in Social-Emotional/Behavioral Areas
Progress Monitoring
- PURPOSE: monitor students’ response to instruction to find students who are not demonstrating adequate progress
- TOOLS: brief assessments that are valid, reliable, and evidence based
- TIMEFRAME: students are assessed at regular intervals (e.g., weekly, biweekly, or monthly
Closing Thoughts
- We know some of our most vulnerable children will suffer the most and the longest from the pandemic.
- We don’t know what the learning environments will be for our preschoolers but we need to be ready.
- MTSS offers tools to help identify children who need more support, deliver greater instructional intensity and see if it’s working.
| MTSS Resources | |
|---|---|
| • | Carta, J., & Young, R. M. (2019). Multi-tiered Systems of Support for Young Children: Driving Change in Early Education. Paul Brookes: Baltimore. (You may be interested in videos that go along with the book.) |
| • | Webinar: https://home.edweb.net/webinar/inclusiveeducation20190207/ |
| • | PCP video: http://www.rtinetwork.org/professional/videos/virtualvisits |
Examples of Interventions that can be used in MTSS
- *Developing Talkers: https://developingtalkers.org/*
- *Dialogic Reading—Reading Rockets: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/dialogic-reading-effective-way-read-aloud-young-children.*
- *Explicit Instruction—Archer & Hughes: https://explicitinstruction.org/.*
- *Path to Literacy: https://products.brookespublishing.com/PAth-to-Literacy-P965.aspx.*
- Pyramid Model—National Center for Pyramid Model Innovation: *http://challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu/.*
- *Read It Again Pre-K: https://earlychildhood.ehe.osu.edu/research/practice/read-it-again-prek/*
- *Story Champs: https://www.languagedynamicsgroup.com/products/story-champs/.*
- *Story Friends: https://brookespublishing.com/product/story-friends/.*
- *World of Words: http://umich.edu/~rdytolrn/wow.html*
Examples of Universal Screening and Progress Monitoring Measures
• CIRCLE Progress Monitoring: https://cliengage.org/public/training/support/how-toguides/circle-progress-monitoring-user-guide/. • IGDIs--http://igdi.ku.edu/. • Preschool Early Literacy Indicators: https://acadiencelearning.org/acadience-reading/prekpeli/ • Assessment of Story Comprehension: https://products.brookespublishing.com/Assessment-of-Story-Comprehension-Set-P1089.aspx. • ASQ-SE-2:https://brookespublishing.com/product/asqse-2/.
GIVEAWAY
We’re giving away 3 FREE copies of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Young Children!
Three attendees will be selected at random and emailed after the webinar.
Special Discount
SAVE 20%
at brookespublishing.com
Use code
COFFEETALK
Expires 6/30/20. Not to be combined with any other discounts or offers. Consumer orders only, please. Excludes BOL training, pre-discounted bundles, and online products such as ASQ Online and AEPSinteractive
Coffee Chats
Looking for more professional development opportunities?
bit.ly/BrookesCoffeeChats
Check out our archive of chats!