MTSS Newsletter

LCPS continues to leverage components of MTSS at every level to support continuous improvement efforts. During the comprehensive needs assessment, schools analyzed a variety of data sources to better understand the root cause(s) of discrepancies in academic achievement and student engagement in order to develop an improvement plan specific to their school's needs. As of late September, 28% of improvement plans intentionally address Social-Emotional Learning, 32% of plans address PBIS, and school climate is being addressed by 47% of schools. While implementation levels differ, all schools are addressing content-specific needs through a multi-tiered system of support by analyzing data to determine tiered instructional needs of individual students, monitoring student progress, and communicating performance outcomes. School-based teams study and document the implementation and impact of these practices after each improvement cycle. The first Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle is likely to be studied sometime before mid-November. Please refer to the LCPS SIP folder for additional information about individual school plans. The Office of School Improvement will analyze trends of goal/strategy focus areas for schools across the division and will share this information once it becomes available.

Areas of focus within continuous plans for school improvement:

For the second year, LCPS will continue to use the Phoenix MTSS Module to document Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions for students in the areas of literacy, math, behavior and mental health. Based upon staff feedback and aligned with requirements for student reading plans per the Virginia Literacy Act, a number of enhancements were made to the MTSS Module. Please reference the enhancements and required/optional intervention plan components documents.

An MTSS Intervention Plan Qlik App has been launched to help schools provide oversight into intervention plan development, management, and student progress toward goals. Access the Qlik Quick Guide for detailed information on how to navigate through the app. Please reach out to a member of the division MTSS Team with any specific questions. Division-level staff have access to all school data. School-based Administrators and UMHT staff have access to their assigned school’s data.

A Schoology Group has been created to provide information to MTSS Module users when technical issues are noted in the system. Reminders and links to updated resources will be provided throughout the year. Principals have already been enrolled.

Please ask staff to enroll using the following access code: 7KZF-Z878-RZ6NF

Continue to access the MTSS Library>Intervention Page for updated resources to support the creation and closing of goals and plans throughout the year!

Given the success of the Literacy and Math academic decision trees in supporting data-based decision-making, Behavior and SEL/Mental Health decision trees have been created to guide the decision-making process for:

• Evaluating the implementation of Tier 1 strategies

• Aligning supports with identified student needs

• Selecting and implementing appropriate tiered levels of support, to include evidence-based interventions

• Informing families of the need for intervention

• Progress monitoring the intervention

• Evaluating student response to the implemented intervention

The Behavior Tree can be found on the MTSS Library>PBIS>Behavior Decision Tree page.

The SEL/Mental Health Tree is found on the MTSS Library>SEL>SEL/Mental Health Decision Tree page.

The LCPS Reading and Math Decision Trees have been revised for the 2024-2025 school year. Major revisions include:

• individual grade level trees for elementary grades
• expanded progress monitoring details including goals and objectives for elementary reading trees
• updated teacher resources for Tiers 1, 2 and 3

Families can access the decision trees and they have been posted for teachers through the MTSS Library > RTI > Elementary Literacy, Secondary Literacy or Mathematics.

The RTI Team will be offering office hours twice per month to support staff professional learning and answer questions regarding RTI implementation. Each session offers a 30-minute topic presentation followed by 30 minutes for questions and answers. Staff can enroll in any session through PowerSchool Professional Learning. The flyer lists all topics and dates for the 2024-2025 school year (click on image to open).

VALLS (K-3): January 6 - January 31, 2025

VKRP: (K): No winter administration

MAP (1-8): January 8 - January 31, 2025

FAST (K-5): January 6 - February 7, 2025

iReady (9-12): January 6 - January 31, 2025

Developing teachers' classroom management skills is an important part of PBIS implementation. Check out the flyer for our upcoming in-person classroom management series courses.

Asynchronous versions of the courses are also available. Search for PBIS in PowerSchool or follow the links on PBIS Professional Learning page of the MTSS Library.

To help administrators and staff identify which area of classroom management to focus on, we have developed the Classroom Management Planning Tool. This tool can be used to identify individual areas of need or taken as a whole to get an overall picture of classroom management strengths and needs.

The PBIS team and the Mentoring and Coaching Office have co-created the Supporting Student Behavior series. The SSB series is designed to cover the fundamentals of behavioral theory and develop the foundations of classroom management for new and experienced teachers.

Due to high demand for the fall cohort, we have opened a winter cohort. Space is limited so sign up early to reserve a spot!

DDI is currently working to help LCPS transition from Qlik to Qlik Cloud. Qlik Cloud is a more collaborative, modern service that will enhance data analytics in LCPS! The transition is scheduled to be complete by the end of October 2024. You may have noticed that some apps have already migrated to the new space. PBIS Coaches rely heavily on the “MTSS Behavioral Incident Data” application. This app will feel very similar in Qlik Cloud, but will have some minor tweaks. Please reference the Pulling Discipline Data from Qlik Guidance Document to identify key changes and do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!

Social-emotional learning is a process for young people and adults. The Reflect and Connect cards are a collection of prompts designed for adults in the division to cultivate relationships and strengthen social-emotional competencies. The prompts are an effective tool to foster listening, talking, reflecting and building empathy.

Each prompt aligns with the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) five-competency framework and the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) Profile of a Graduate. Cards are organized by competency and skill areas and are intentionally designed for versatile use with adults across settings. Teachers and leaders are encouraged to use these regularly to naturally integrate adult SEL opportunities into meetings and professional learning.

If you are interested in receiving a set of cards, please email Lindsay.Orme@lcps.org. Click HERE for digital access.

After the successful fall and spring tours of "5 Ways to Make a Friend" during the 23-24 school year, A Place to Be is back with another tour and a new exciting studio experience for students. The "5 Ways to Make a Friend" assembly for PreK-2nd grade students is scheduled to perform in 20 elementary schools during the months of September through December. A spring assembly sign-up will be available in early December for schools interested in booking a show during the second half of the school year.

The expansion of this partnership includes a newly designed show for 3rd and 4th grade students titled, "A Place to Be Me." Students take a field trip to the A Place to Be studio in the Village at Leesburg to engage as a live studio audience for an interactive show incorporating all core competencies of SEL. Since availability is limited, all schools will receive a recorded copy of the show with a set of discussion prompts for teachers to use in the classroom. More dates will be available for schools to sign up for spring trips. Look for more information in early December.

Two LCPS high schools are exploring a curriculum to explicitly teach SEL through advisory this year. Woodgrove High School and Virtual Distance Learning are piloting Wayfinder and utilizing the extensive library of lessons to provide instruction supporting the needs of students. Wayfinder is an evidence-based SEL program proven to support the following student outcomes:

• Improved self-awareness and agency
• Improved school climate
• Improved school connectedness
• Improved social behaviors

Both school advisory teams used the program to create lesson collections that are grade-specific and meet the developmental needs and interests of their students. Lessons require minimal preparation and include slide decks for easy facilitation of content. Student and staff data will be collected to inform the effectiveness and usability of the Wayfinder program for consideration of formal implementation.