Amherst Elementary and Middle Schools support students within a Mulit-Leveled Systems of Support (MLSS) model. MLSS enables teachers to work with students who need some assistance in order to be more successful during their school day. The goal is to provide students with the support, during their scheduled classroom MLSS time, that they need to be independently successful with grade level standards. Students receiving extra support will NOT be missing any scheduled curriculum time. Each grade level has a scheduled MLSS time during their school day which allows teachers the time to give students a “boost” in an academic area of concern. Some students will be working independently, some students will be working on a programs such as Mobymax, and others will be working in small groups on areas like phonics, sight words, fluency, comprehension, math facts, etc.
Amherst Elementary and Middle Schools MLSS framework has 3 tiers.
Tier 1 is the differentiated classroom instruction that the classroom teacher teaches everyday. Differentiated means that the classroom teacher may teach the same thing a few different ways in order to meet the needs of all the students. Some students may need a little one-on-one time with the teacher to fully grasp a new concept.
Tier 2 is for students who are struggling to meet grade level expectations even with their classroom teacher's differentiated instruction. In tier 2, students will receive an additional lesson in the area where they need an extra "boost." Tier 2 lessons are more intensive, so they are delivered in small groups. These lessons will usually be taught by a classroom teacher in that grade level. Students may be grouped with others from different classrooms within their grade level, as there may be more students who need more instruction in the same area. Students will not miss any regular class time. Tier 2 lessons are taught during the scheduled MLSS time (a time built into each grade level specifically for students to work on areas of need or enrichment).
Tier 3 is for students who continue to struggle to meet grade level expectations even after receiving at least two Tier 2 lessons. These lessons will be more intensive, taught by an MLSS teacher, Mrs. Scheunemann, or the Reading Specialist, Mrs. Snyder, and in smaller groups sizes (1-3 students).
The extra lessons given in Tier 2 and 3 are called interventions. Interventions will be evidence-based lessons, meaning there is research and data that shows they have been used successfully with students.
The purpose for MLSS is to ensure that the needs of each student are being met. Every teacher has a different teaching style and every student has a different learning style. Sometimes in order to meet the needs of the student, we try teaching something in a different way. MLSS allows us the time and resources to do this.