Special Education & MTSS
Summary
This report outlines the process, findings, and recommendations from that work related to the Special Education and Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Programs. As an organization, it is understood that the pace of change may be dependent upon the impact of that change on other aspects of the educational program. When conducting this work in an individual department or program, it is important and difficult to balance competing interests and constraints. The process model reflects this challenge as the “ripple effect” of balancing people, time and money. The committee utilized the action-priority matrix to evaluate each recommendation and established an implementation timeline with associated cost estimates. Within the Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) model, we know that recommendations designed to meet the needs of students with special needs and/or requiring intervention or acceleration, must address all learning environments from the general education classroom, to a pull-out setting, to the potential for intervention or acceleration.
One key element of the in-depth program review was the consideration of a program philosophy and vision. Since this parallel process was being applied to students demonstrating certain needs or characteristics - versus a content area - a different approach was given to the idea of a program philosophy or vision. The very mission of the Pine-Richland School District is to focus on learning for every student every day. It is the word every that makes this mission so challenging and worthwhile. Students in our Special Education and/or MTSS programs are reflected in the word every. As a result, there is not a special image or phrase for this work. Our image of every is reflected in the words and concepts of our district image.