Team-Based Leadership

What does it mean?

A representative Leadership Team comprised of key stakeholders (grade levels/department/specials/general and special educators) is responsible for leading and coordinating MTSS efforts. The leadership team collects and analyzes a range of data for decision-making, including fidelity of implementation data, student outcome data, and intervention success data and communicates the current status with regular updates to staff, students, parents, and the community. The leadership team oversees the use of data for systematic problem-solving, attends to the fidelity of implementation, and the development of systems to promote sustainability and remove barriers to implementation.

Why It’s Essential

A team approach helps to distribute the workload among multiple individuals and facilitates collaboration and communication. Teams (district, building, and educator) that collaborate and communicate contribute to the alignment and cohesion across the multiple levels of the system. The alignment and cohesion of leadership teams allows for a systematic approach to data-based problem solving and keep the focus on improved outcomes for all students.

Implementation

Core features of effective team-based leadership include:

• Shared accountability and responsibility for developing and maintaining the MTSS framework

• Monthly meetings scheduled as part of the master calendar.

• Established meeting norms and clear roles/responsibilities for all members

• Use of a consistent, standardized meeting agenda and corresponding action plan (e.g., TIPS Meeting Minutes and Problem-Solving Action Plan Form) at each meeting to guide the meeting and emphasize the ongoing use of data to inform decision making

• Use of a formal shared decision-making process.

• Procedures for communication and work with other collaborative educator teams (e.g. Tier 2, Tier 3, grade level teams).

• Action planning and integration with the continuous school improvement planning process

• Formalized feedback loops from learners, families, community, faculty, and staff to inform the system

For more detailed information on Team-Based Leadership, review the Montana MTSS Essential Components.