On the heels of the state introducing new instructional standards, a new funding model and a new accountability system, California’s schools and districts would be wise to embrace a proven framework of supports capable of addressing students’ academic, social and behavioral needs, writes Orange County Superintendent of Schools in a column for EdSource.
Dr. Mijares’ commentary, published this week on the nonprofit education news website, advocates specifically for what’s known as the multi-tiered system of support framework, which establishes three levels of support and interventions for students based on their individual needs.
“Because this approach builds on the strengths of each school’s staff and signature programs, it will look different depending on where it’s deployed,” the superintendent writes. But common features, he says, include collaboration, data-driven decision making, differentiated instruction and interventions that are triggered before a school or student fails.
Mijares’ column shows how MTSS is being used successfully at a pair of schools in Orange County. He also points to recent data showing its impact, and he details an initiative intended to scale up the multi-tiered system of support framework throughout California. As we’ve written previously, OCDE has been tapped to lead this statewide charge through a partnership that includes the Butte County Office of Education and the SWIFT Center, which is providing technical assistance.
You can read Superintendent Mijares’ column on the EdSource website. For more on the California MTSS initiative, visit www.ocde.us/SUMS/Pages/CA-MTSS.