Lansing Elementary outlines MTSS intervention process and progress monitoring

Lansing Lansing Elementary School staff presented the building's MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) model at the board's March meeting, explaining screening tools, intervention tiers, progress monitoring and how the school uses data to group students and measure response to instruction.

The presentation: Jennifer Cole, principal of Lansing Elementary, introduced the team and said the building uses universal screeners (FastBridge) three times a year and tiers students into Tier 1 (core instruction), Tier 2 (small-group supplemental instruction) and Tier 3 (intensive interventions). Interventionist Holly Kane and instructional coach Jenny Nicholson described diagnostic assessments used for students who 'flag' on the screener and how the school organizes a 30-minute daily reading intervention block and a 30-minute math intervention block.

How progress monitoring works: Staff said teachers or interventionists give one-minute weekly probes that align to instructional skill and level, and that after 5–7 data points FastBridge calculates a trend line showing whether a student is on track to meet the end-of-year benchmark. Staff described three common patterns: strong response (trend line above the goal), partial response (growth but gap remains) and nonresponse (little or no progress), and they explained typical next steps including changing curriculum, reducing group size, altering instruction pace, or referring the student to the Student Improvement Team for problem solving and possible special education evaluation.

Why it matters: presenters said early identification and intervention in kindergarten and first grade yields better outcomes and is easier to remediate than later identification. Board members and staff discussed the value of longitudinal cohort tracking, transition meetings among buildings and the challenge of aligning schedules for interventionists and classroom teachers.

Questions and operational notes: Trustees asked about the time span represented on the progress-monitoring charts (each data point represents one week), how long teams wait before modifying instruction, and how the school tracks students moving between buildings. Principal Cole said the building has an interventionist for each grade level and that the team meets weekly to review data. The presenters also said they follow up on students dismissed from intervention with several weeks of continued monitoring.

Follow-ups requested: Board members encouraged the district to gather multi-year cohort data to show the intervention program's effect over time and asked principals to keep the board informed about how the intervention staffing and late-start meeting schedule affect collaboration between interventionists and classroom teachers.