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

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 we 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.
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

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 and
Progress Monitoring

Universal
Screening

Does Child Need
Greater
Instructional
Support?

Tier 1

Progress
Monitoring

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

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for Young Children!

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