BETHALTO - During their regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, the Bethalto Community Unit School District #8 Board of Education learned about the district’s multi-tiered system of support.
The multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) refers to interventions that students can receive when they need additional academic or social-emotional support. During the meeting, the district’s psychologists, interventionists and paraprofessionals shared data for each Bethalto school and explained the academic interventions that students receive at every level.
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“A district that doesn’t have a strong MTSS program set in place really then struggles with over-identifying students that need to be in special education,” said Alyssa Smith, Bethalto’s Director of Teaching and Learning. “By screening them early, screening them often and constantly monitoring that data, it’s a way for us to stay on top of kids and intervene as quickly as possible so that they don’t fall too far behind.”
Students are screened three times throughout the school year to determine which tier of support they need. Standardized testing like the FastBridge earlyReading, earlyMath and SAEBRS assessments can help identify gaps in a student’s learning.
Approximately 80–90% of students should fall into Tier One, which means students receive basic classroom instruction and support. About 5–10% of students fall into Tier Two, which refers to students who “just need a little bit of extra help in something specific,” Smith said. This leaves 1–8% of students in Tier Three, which is more intensive intervention.
All Bethalto schools fall into these ranges. Tier Two students receive bi-weekly progress monitoring, while Tier Three students are monitored weekly.
Every school has different programs and interventions in place for its students. The psychologists and interventionists will often meet to discuss individual students and assess what supports they need.
“Our decisions are highly individualized. We talk about one specific student at a time and make a decision that’s best for them,” said Katy McGilllis, an interventionist at Parkside Elementary School. “Our goal is always to try to meet that student where they are, accelerate their learning, fill those gaps that they’re showing us they need some additional support in. How can we move them forward to get them back into Tier One as quickly as possible?”
Students can transition from one tier to the next as gaps in learning are identified. The district only implements Individual Education Plans (IEPs) after students have received all support possible through the MTSS.
Superintendent Dr. Jill Griffin expressed appreciation for the district’s psychologists, interventionists and paraprofessionals. She noted that it’s through their work that students receive the support they need to be successful.
“We want to thank our psychologists and our interventionists for the work that they do with our most vulnerable students in the school district, the extra support that you all provide,” Griffin said. “You are the backbone of our MTSS system of support, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without all of you.”
