SAUGUS — The Saugus schools recently received a Multi-tiered Systems of Support Math Academy grant that will last for three years, being one out of 11 districts chosen by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
“Last June, we became aware of a competitive grant opportunity… that focused on tiered instruction. Tiered instruction is when students have the same curriculum goal, but there’s different pathways that they can take to reach that goal,” Andrea Wheeler, secondary math coach for grades six through 12, said.
Wheeler wrote a grant proposal under the instruction of Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Susan Turbine, and she was later notified that the school had been chosen. She added that the grant was secured thanks to the structures the schools already had in place. These included two math instructional coaches, common planning time at the elementary, and established high-quality curriculum materials.
“At the elementaries, we’ve been using enVision for the last several years. And at the secondary, we’ve been using Carnegie for the past five years,” she said.
She noted that these structures will make the work they do internally sustainable “for years to come, even after this grant is over.”
“The grant is going to support upper elementary through the middle school. So, grades four all the way through eight, but we’re going to focus on that fifth to sixth grade transition… because there is a dip in the MCAS scores, and it is a tough transition leaving elementary and heading into middle school,” Wheeler said.
MTSS consists of three tiers of support. Tier 1 instruction is universal classroom instruction that all students will receive. Tier 2 focuses on students who may need additional practice, while others may need additional enrichment, leading to targeted instruction.
“Tier 2 is where the differentiation occurs. We will differentiate in classroom instruction as well as our classroom structures,” Wheeler said.
Tier 3 is intensive intervention, where students receive individual and one-on-one support.
“We are currently doing all tiers of support. Right now, we are implementing them. But the whole purpose of this grant is: It’s really going to help us strengthen and maximize our efforts,” she said.
Tracy Ragucci, the elementary math coach, spoke about some of the goals.
“As Andrea pointed out, we want to strengthen our tiered instruction. In addition to that, a major focus is on building our in-district capacity,” Ragucci said.
She said this isn’t a one-and-done situation; the hope is that it is sustainable.
“This tiered math academy goes in a cycle. We started off, obviously, in the planning phase. Together, we created a clear vision for implementation in the district,” she said.
The vision will continue to be revised as the teachers move through the cycle.
The next step was classroom visits to analyze patterns and determine strengths and needs.
“Next is our professional development, which is obviously an important part of the cycle. We have two courses running currently… We currently have eight teachers taking one of the two courses in district. These course opportunities will continue throughout the cycle of the grant,” Ragucci said.
Teachers are also able to attend workshops.
“Next in the cycle is coaching and implementation. Andrea and I have already gone through three cycles of coaching with our grant representative. With her, we have been supporting classroom teachers to implement planned lessons and activities,” she said.
The final piece of the cycle is building internal capacity.
Wheeler and Ragucci thanked the teachers for the work they’ve been putting in as they try new things.
“Their hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed,” Ragucci said.
Turbine noted that it was a “super competitive” grant, and the work done by Ragucci and Wheeler was very commendable.
