Multi Tier System Of Support Paper

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has guidelines that outline what schools must consider when determining special education services for English language learners. The guidelines are integrated in a “Multi-Tier System of Supports” framework. Essentially, the MTSS framework provides teachers and staff with research-based recommendations that focus on enhancing and enriching instructional practices to benefit every student (Colorado Department of Education, 2018). This includes providing greater access to the academic and language standards for ELLs. The MTSS typically includes a collaborative team with members of the school community with varying expertise and perspectives (i.e., special education teacher, administration, classroom teacher, English language development teacher).

The team is not only responsible for following a set process, tey are also responsible for identifying appropriate services for ELLs that are not demonstrating adequate academic progress. In such cases, the team must identify the problem or challenges the student is facing, collect a robust body of evidence that showcases the students current level of performance, and perform formal observations of the learning environment. Evidence-based interventions are then put in place to target the lagging skill(s). These intervention are then monitored through documented progress monitor assessments tools (i.e. work samples, formative assessments, observations). In the end, if the students fails to demonstrate growth after interventions have been in place for an extended period of time, and the MTSS process is followed with fidelity, the team can move forward with a special education referral (Colorado Department of Education,