Gresham‑Barlow schools report progress on districtwide MTSS; principals cite improved communication and targeted supports

GRESHAM, Ore. — Gresham‑Barlow School District staff and building leaders on Jan. 8 updated the school board on implementation of an equity‑driven multi‑tiered system of supports (MTSS), saying a stronger data flow and clearer team roles are helping schools intervene earlier for students.

District MTSS coordinator Michelle Cohen told the board the district is focusing first on strengthening universal (tier 1) practices and leadership teams that use screening data and teacher observations to decide whether students need additional or intensified supports. “We are continuing to develop our fluency with using data, really answering the question: how well are universal systems supporting our students’ needs,” Cohen said.

At Gordon Russell Middle School, Principal Aaron Volker and student management specialist Marcus Williams described multi‑year work to separate and track “yellow‑zone” (additional) and “red‑zone” (intensified) student needs, formalize meeting rhythms and use Panorama and SWIS to document interventions. “Every time something happens, every time there’s a conversation or a meeting, that message is noted somewhere so that the professional behind me can see why this kid is escalated,” Williams said, describing how the system preserves continuity as students move between teachers and teams.

Gordon Russell’s additional‑support team aims to manage small‑group academic and social‑emotional interventions and to publish post‑meeting summaries to the school’s weekly memo so classroom teachers see what is in place for students. Examples cited included 1:1 or small‑group SMART‑goals work for emerging multilingual learners, newcomer orientation groups, attendance check‑ins (a “2 by 10” check‑in for students whose attendance slipped) and behavior check‑in/check‑out cards for tier‑2 students.

At Holly Dale Elementary, Principal Aaron Hanson described a multi‑year effort to standardize tier‑1 instruction and extend those expectations into classroom practice. Holly Dale staff developed a school handbook aligning schoolwide SEL themes (for example, a monthly focus like “courage”) to assemblies, buddy classes and classroom lessons. Hanson said the school also adopted “Zen Den” response logging to track calls for staff support and to detect patterns by location and time of day.

Both schools said tier‑2 and tier‑3 work remains resource‑intensive. Cohen and school leaders said documentation is improving but still uneven; many classroom‑based interventions are not consistently recorded yet, which complicates district‑level counts of how many students are actively receiving tier‑2 or tier‑3 help. Cohen estimated (based on documented cases and staff reports) that about 70 percent of students are supported at tier 1, roughly 20 percent through additional interventions, and about 10 percent receive intensified supports — a preliminary working estimate rather than a formal count.

The MTSS team highlighted equity questions. Holly Dale reported a school PBIS smart goal focused on Black students’ sense of belonging; both schools said they disaggregate behavior and outcome data by subgroup and use the SWIS equity reports to check referral rates and service patterns. Cohen said the district is intentionally targeting supports for emerging multilingual learners (EMLs) and is developing EML‑specific operational meetings similar to existing special education ops, because language and disability can overlap and create unmet needs.

Board members asked about cross‑school sharing of practices. Hanson said middle‑school principals meet regularly and principals share MTSS tools and failures as well as successes; Volker described coaching and in‑building release time that allows teachers to pull small groups. Cohen and school leaders asked for more consistent documentation from classroom teachers and said Panorama remains a key district‑level platform for recording interventions.

The presentation concluded with implementation metrics the district collects: PBIS and TFI (Tiered Fidelity Inventory) measures that show incremental increases in implementation across recent years, and a district‑level major/minor behavior split the presenters said helps the district target preventative responses before behaviors escalate.

Looking ahead, schools said they will continue building staff capacity for tier‑1 instruction, improve documentation of classroom interventions, expand supports for EML students and strengthen articulation across teams and grade levels.