Written by: Mark Raffler, Kent ISD

The Kent ISD Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) team has been working for the past six years to develop the understanding and capacity of local districts to balance the behavior and academic demands put forward by the State of Michigan.

The latest legislation put into place, focused on academic content, is the Third Grade Reading Law (Public Act 306).  This legislation comes with many requirements and considerations for districts in order to increase the number of students reading proficiently by the end of third grade.

The Kent ISD MTSS Team provides technical assistance and professional learning opportunities to school-level leadership teams from partnering districts that address the components of the school-wide reading system outlined in this legislation.

Five Building Blocks of Reading

The professional learning provided emphasizes the “five building blocks of reading” and how to use universal screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic reading data to make instructional decisions.  The resources, adapted to fit local context, are also designed to support local district coaches in working with the school-level leadership teams, so they better understand the data, systems, and practices necessary to address student reading needs.

This work provides system-level understanding, specific to professional learning needs and coaching supports, that will put our districts in the best position possible for ensuring all students are reading proficiently by the end of third grade.

Kent ISD utilizes technical assistance, research, and tools from Michigan’s Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative (MIBLSI) to provide adapted and contextualized resources that support local school districts to implement MTSS district-wide.

More Resources

To see more on the resources provided and how they connect specifically to the third grade reading law, please visit our Kent ISD Third Grade Reading Law Implementation Plan, MTSS School Wide Reading Model Alignment to Third Grade Reading Legislation Document and other Kent ISD Early Literacy Resources.

This blog post was written by Mark Raffler, Literacy and MTSS Consultant at Kent ISD and edited by Amanda Walma, Professional Development Coordinator at Kent ISD.