Equitable MTSS for Multilingual Learners: Designing Systems That Work

"First, do no harm." — Hippocratic Principle

Good leaders provide additional support to students who need it.

Great leaders ensure that support is the right support—and doesn't unintentionally create harm.

When Systems Thinking Meets MTSS

Over the past two weeks, we've explored two ideas that have fundamentally shaped my leadership.

First, I shared that improving outcomes for multilingual learners taught me that educational systems are deeply interconnected. Curriculum, assessment, leadership, scheduling, professional learning, family engagement, and countless other systems all influence student success.

Last week, we took that one step further by exploring what it means to think like a systems leader. Systems thinkers don't stop at solving problems. They look for the patterns, relationships, and structures that are producing those problems.

This week, I'd like to apply that thinking to one of the most important systems schools design: Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).

We just got back from presenting at the Joint NCTE–NCTM Conference on Equitable MTSS for Multilingual Learners: Designing Systems That Work and one idea continues to rise above all the others.

Intervention is not a harmless proposition.

Done well, MTSS creates opportunities for students to thrive.

Done poorly, it can unintentionally create barriers that make learning even harder.

Let Me Show You

I could spend the rest of this blog explaining why intervention isn't a harmless proposition, but I'd rather let you experience it.

Normally, I do this activity live during workshops. Participants have to tell a partner about their favorite vacation while following one very important rule.

Since we're not together, you'll get the written version instead.

You'll need:

• A piece of paper (or something to type on)

• Something to write with

• A timer

You'll have 60 seconds to complete the activity.

One more important rule...

Don't read ahead.

Step 1

Spend 30 seconds thinking about your favorite vacation.

Picture it vividly.

Think about:

• what you ate

• what you saw

• the sounds

• activities

• people

• emotions

• every descriptive detail you can remember

Don't write anything yet.

Step 2

Get your paper ready.

Get your timer ready.

Still...

don't write.

Step 3

Here's your final direction.

You may not use ANY word containing the letter "N."

Not at the beginning.

Not in the middle.

Not at the end.

Start your timer. You have 60 seconds.

Write everything you can remember about your favorite vacation...

without using a single word containing the letter N.

What Just Happened?

Take a moment before reading further. Don't think about how much you wrote. Think about how it felt.

• Were you frustrated?

• Mentally exhausted?

• Constantly second-guessing yourself?

• Did you spend more time thinking about the rule than communicating your ideas?

Now imagine doing that activity with a partner while your teacher walked around the room with a clipboard evaluating your ability to retell a story.

Or imagine reading a passage under that same constraint and then being assessed on your comprehension.

How capable would you appear? Probably...not very.

Did you suddenly become a poor writer?

No.

Did you suddenly lose your ability to think?

Of course not.

Now imagine doing that all day long every day.

That small experience offers a glimpse into something multilingual learners navigate every single day.

Not because they lack ability, but because every academic task also requires navigating another language.

Why This Matters More Than We Think

Now let's extend that thought experiment.

If you experienced that every day, all day, how long would it take before you started questioning your own ability?

Probably not very long.

John Hattie's research consistently identifies student self-efficacy—students' beliefs about their own ability to succeed—as one of the strongest influences on learning.

Repeated experiences of struggle can eventually change how students see themselves.

Now imagine you're the teacher.

Day after day, your multilingual learners appear to struggle with classroom tasks. How long before you begin forming beliefs about what those students are capable of?

Research has repeatedly demonstrated that teacher expectations significantly influence student achievement. The beliefs educators hold about students often shape the opportunities those students receive.

Finally, imagine those experiences accumulating across an entire grade level or school.

Over time, educators may begin believing that, despite their best efforts, they simply cannot significantly impact multilingual learner outcomes.

That erosion of collective teacher efficacy—a school's shared belief that together they can positively influence student learning—is one of the most powerful predictors of student achievement in Hattie's research.

This is why intervention is not a hold harmless proposition.

If we identify students using incomplete or inappropriate data...

If we remove students from high-quality Tier I instruction...

If interventions replace English language development services...

If the intervention itself isn't linguistically appropriate...

We don't simply lose instructional minutes.

We risk lowering student confidence.

Lowering teacher expectations.

And lowering collective efficacy.

In other words...

We can unintentionally do harm.

So What Should We Design Instead?

Last week, we talked about becoming systems thinkers.

Systems thinkers don't simply react to problems.

They intentionally design systems that produce better outcomes.

As Christi Roberts and I prepared for our conference session, we kept returning to six design principles that help schools design equitable MTSS systems for multilingual learners.

1. Design for Growth, Not Static Benchmarks

Think back to the vacation activity. If I only looked at what you produced in sixty seconds, I might conclude you struggle with written language.

I'd be wrong.

The assessment failed to account for the constraints placed on the task. The same thing happens when multilingual learners are evaluated solely against static benchmarks.

Every assessment is also measuring English proficiency.

Growth toward proficiency often tells us much more than a single score ever can.

Systems thinkers ask:

"What is this assessment actually measuring?"

2. Strengthen Tier I Before Expanding Tier II

Would another intervention have solved the vacation activity?

Probably not.

Scaffolding student needs would have. I could have given you a list of vacation words that did not have the letter N. (word wall) In the live version, I could have given you time to write first before speaking with your partner. (extended think time) I could have used a turn and talk structure with sentence stems and frames. All of these scaffolds would have made you more successful at the task.

The same principle applies in schools.

MTSS is built on the assumption that approximately 70–80% of students should succeed within Tier I instruction.

If that isn't happening, adding more intervention isn't the first answer.

Improving Tier I is.

For multilingual learners, this is especially critical because they spend the vast majority of their day in general education classrooms.

If Tier I isn't linguistically and culturally responsive, no intervention system can fully compensate.

3. Use Assessment the Way It Was Designed

Imagine if I used your vacation writing sample to diagnose your literacy ability.

That would be an inappropriate conclusion. The task simply wasn't designed for that purpose.

The same mistake happens when schools use universal screeners to determine interventions.

Screeners identify students who may require additional investigation. They don't diagnose needs.

For multilingual learners, assessment results must always be interpreted alongside language proficiency, instructional history, and collaborative team problem solving.

4. Design Supports That Expand Opportunity

The solution to our activity wouldn't have been giving you fewer opportunities to communicate.

It would have been removing unnecessary barriers.

Likewise, intervention should expand opportunities to learn; not replace English language development or strong Tier I instruction.

For multilingual learners, supports should always add opportunity—not substitute one important service for another.

5. Build Better Decisions Through Collaborative Expertise

Imagine someone evaluating your writing sample without knowing about the "no N" rule. Their conclusions would likely be very different from someone who understood the context. That's exactly why collaborative problem-solving teams matter.

Effective MTSS teams include educators who understand language development alongside classroom instruction, assessment, intervention, and student history. Context changes interpretation.

Without the right expertise at the table, even well-intentioned decisions can unintentionally create harm.

6. Continuously Improve the System

The final lesson comes directly from systems thinking.

Always ask:

"Is this a student issue—or a systems issue?"

If every person completing the vacation activity struggled... Would we conclude everyone had weak writing skills? Or would we question the design of the task itself?

Schools should ask the same question.

If nearly every multilingual learner qualifies for intervention... perhaps the issue isn't the students.

If very few students receiving Tier II supports demonstrate meaningful growth... perhaps the issue isn't the students.

Great MTSS systems don't simply monitor student progress.

They continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the system itself.

A Quick Systems Check

As you think about your own MTSS system, ask yourself:

• Are intervention decisions based on growth toward proficiency, not simply benchmark scores?

• Is Tier I instruction successfully meeting the needs of approximately 70–80% of multilingual learners?

• Do assessment teams intentionally consider language proficiency when interpreting data?

• Do interventions supplement rather than replace English language development services?

• Does every collaborative problem-solving team include expertise in second language acquisition?

• When reviewing data, do your teams regularly ask whether they're seeing a student issue or a systems issue?

If you answered "not yet" to several of these questions...

your MTSS system may have significant opportunities for improvement.

Looking Ahead

Next week, I'll share additional tools from our session—including a systems self-assessment rubric and planning resources—to help leadership teams evaluate and strengthen their own MTSS systems.

Reflection Question

Where might a well-intentioned support be unintentionally creating barriers instead of removing them? What evidence would help you determine whether you're looking at a student issue—or a systems issue?