In a series of stories, CISD will be showcasing how the district uses Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) so that all students can experience growth. This story shows both MTSS and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at work at Coppell Middle School North.
No student should slip through the cracks at Coppell Middle School North, according to Principal Dr. Greg Axelson.
“We can’t necessarily guarantee that we will solve every student’s learning hurdle,” he said. “but we can guarantee that we will see the problem and give every student the attention and support they need to overcome it.”
In the realm of great teaching and student learning and growth, Coppell Middle School North stands out for its focus on dynamic Professional Learning Communities (PLC) alongside Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Within Coppell ISD's educational landscape, all schools share a commitment to student achievement, using the powerful combination of MTSS and PLC frameworks. Together, these strategies provide educators with a precise lens to understand and nurture the distinct learning profiles of each student.
As a campus that has received Model PLC designation for six consecutive years, CMS North blends the core components of MTSS and PLCs exceptionally well. Schools must demonstrate commitment to and apply the concepts of a PLC for at least three years and present clear evidence of improved student learning to receive Model PLC designation from Solution Tree, Inc. — a distinction that only 35 middle schools in Texas and eight middle schools in North Texas achieved in 2023.
According to CMS North’s staff guidebook, the PLC framework neither describes a group of professionals nor a time built into the workday, but rather a culture of collective responsibility through which all staff members ensure that all students learn at high levels. PLCs are driven by four guiding questions —
- What is it that we want our students to learn?
- How will we know if each student has learned it?
- How will we respond when some students do not learn it? and
- How can we extend and enrich the learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency?
— and three main ideas —
- A focus on learning;
- Collaboration; and
- A focus on results.
The structure of the PLC directly supports the intervention tiers of MTSS, which are intended to guide educators’ thinking.
So, what does this look like for a school?
“Every student does not struggle for the same reason. The reasons why students struggle can vary,” CISD Director of Assessment, Accountability and MTSS Mary Kennington said in a recent article about PLC best practices from Solution Tree. “The inverted pyramid continually focuses a school’s collective attention and resources to a single point — the individual child. The tiers of the inverted pyramid is an ongoing process to dig deeper into students’ individual needs. Tiers are not intended to be a destination, a label, or a hoop to jump through; they are to guide our thinking. The pyramid is more than a visual representation of a system of interventions; it is a practical tool that helps transform thinking into action. The answer lies not in determining who is responsible for intervening when students don’t learn after core instruction — classroom teachers or the school’s intervention resources — but in determining the lead responsibilities of each specific staff member.”
To visually capture this reframing of campus professionals’ roles, one can picture an inverted pyramid built with the tiers of intervention, with Tier 1 (instruction for all learners) at the top, Tier 2 (supplemental support) in the middle, and Tier 3 (intensive support) at the bottom. Then, the pyramid breaks down even further.
“Solution Tree has divided the pyramid into two distinct areas of lead responsibility — interventions led by collaborative teacher teams and interventions led by school-wide teams,” Kennington said.
CMS North Pyramid of Intervention illustrating the division of the responsibility of supports between school-wide teams/professional and teacher teams/teachers.
The “collaborative team” is the fundamental structure of CMS North, meaning no educator works in isolation. The Title I campus embodies the idea that one single educator cannot fulfill every student’s unique needs. CMS North rises to that challenge by allocating dedicated time for daily collaboration between teams of teachers by core subject (math, science, social studies, and language arts) and weekly professional learning, planning sessions and a data collection and reporting meeting for all core subject teachers, instructional coaches, and campus administrators.
“Dedicating time to this work was a huge and important step,” Dr. Axelson said, reflecting on the school’s journey toward becoming a PLC. “This collaboration time allows us to sit with teachers, look at the data and really define what our students and teachers need. Involving all teachers, instructional coaches and administrators helps with consistency and mutual accountability.”
When Dr. Axelson first arrived at CMS North in 2017, the school was in the process of digging deeper into common assessments and collecting data to help identify areas of need for each learner.
Today, the common assessment tools used by all CISD schools paint a detailed portrait of each and every student.
“Put simply, these tools allow us to categorize each quiz or test question and tie it to a certain standard, which allows us to look at data in a more meaningful way,” Dr. Axelson said. “Finding ways that we can code these items and questions helps us identify each child and the standards with which they are struggling.”
CMS North has designed systems to support struggling students, such as WIN (What I Need) Time, a 30-minute block built into every school day where teachers can pull students in to help them learn what they did not learn the first time. Beyond this, each student’s common assessment data can be accessed by all of his or her teachers to determine when additional supports are needed. The Panorama Student Success Platform has been an instrumental tool in this effort.
As the school as a whole supports every learner, each core teacher team simultaneously works toward a SMART goal — a goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound — each school year that is specific to the team’s grade level and content.
CMS North places high significance on ensuring educators are equipped with the resources to identify when and where interventions are needed.
“Through professional learning, we try to make sure our teachers know how to support and work with all students, including 504, special education and emergent bilingual learners,” Dr. Axelson said. “Every year, we refine this process, asking ourselves, ‘How can we teach that better or differently?’”
As a former teacher and tenured school administrator, Dr. Axelson champions his staff’s commitment to not only their students but to each other.
“In all of this, our teachers are absolutely extraordinary,” he said. “For those coming to us from outside CISD, a lot of this work might be new to them. Our new teachers do a good job of learning and acclimating, and our veteran teachers do a great job of giving them what they need to be successful in this framework.”
The key, says Dr. Axelson, is reminding them to focus on the “why.”
“To anyone who wants to help students, I would strongly consider putting these teams and systems in place. We make sure we’re doing the best we can for each kid,” he said.
Learn more about how CISD is using MTSS to ensure one year of academic growth for each student at www.tinyurl.com/CoppellMTSS.