How MTSS Teaming Structures Can Help Students in a Post-COVID World

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many challenges to schools in supporting students with differentiated needs. We weathered storms of technology access, Wi-Fi hotspots, and being “on mute,” but as educators, we continued to struggle with the feeling of not being able to do enough to support our students in a Distance Learning model. Now we turn our attention to what we can do when students return to our campuses after being out of school for well over a year. The challenges we anticipate can seem overwhelming: students who are far behind with academic learning, coming back to a school and sitting in a classroom, dealing with traumatic events during COVID, and many more. School Psychologists are gearing up to face increased referrals for SPED assessment, requests for retention, and “out-of-control” kids! How can our school systems cope with this demand? Well, the answer might be leveraging our existing teaming structures within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), figuring out who needs what, when they might need it, why they should have it, and how we can deliver it. This workshop will focus on how a large urban school district in Central California has worked to develop problem-solving teams at all tiers to answer those questions. Participants will learn examples of how to intentionally identify need and provide support at all tiers.