Emporia schools lead the way in helping students achieve
Nancy Horst, Special to The Gazette
Originally published 02:36 p.m., February 1, 2008
Updated 02:36 p.m., February 1, 2008
The Emporia schools are taking a lead with a new practice endorsed this year by the Kansas Department of Education to raise student achievement. As a result, the district has become a model for implementing MTSS or a Multi-Tiered System of Support.
MTSS – also known as Response to Intervention (RTI) – is a process used by teachers and administrators to help students achieve at a higher level in reading and math. It allows teachers to make decisions about instruction based on student performance data. It is one of two major components of the District Improvement Plan, adopted in the spring of 2007 to help the district meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind.
Emporia High School and Emporia Middle School are part of a statewide pilot for using MTSS at the secondary level.
Teachers and administrators from at least 10 schools and districts have visited William Allen White Elementary this school year to observe MTSS in action. Last week, a team of teachers and administrators from Riverton spent the day observing classes, talking with teachers and attending teacher meetings.
Chad Harper, assistant principal at Riverton Elementary, said his school is being trained to use the MTSS process. A presenter at one of the state training sessions used W.A. White as an example of a school that has fully implemented the practice.
“It was a good visit,” Harper said. “Our team was very glad to get into classrooms and see how it’s all going to look.”
The Riverton group was impressed with how much knowledge the teachers at White had about individual students and what was needed to help the student improve.
“It was all teacher-driven and everyone was on the same page. I was very impressive,” Harper said.
In addition to classroom visits, the team learned about the paperwork required to keep track of the data and document student progress. Principal James Baker described the student data records as “tools for allocating resources” within the school.
W.A. White teachers also have been on the speakers’ circuit this year, making presentations at other school districts and at state and national conferences including the Florida Center for Reading Research, the International DIBELS Summit in Albuquerque, N.M., and for the Kansas State Department of Education.