(Featuring Andrea Lillis of Senia International and Cheryl Brown of ISCA)

For too long, the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) has been confined to academic or behavioral teams. This episode, a preview of the course Building a School-Wide MTSS Framework, tackles the crucial shift required to make MTSS a school-wide operational system. Andrea Lillis and Cheryl Brown explain why MTSS must go beyond counselors and learning support to include departments like HR and facilities, ensuring absolute operational consistency for student academic, behavioral, and social-emotional success.

Memorable Quotes 🗣️

• "You can't Tier 2 or Tier 3 your way out of a Tier 1 problem." — Andrea Lillis

• "That's the beauty of MTSS, is coming up with a plan... to answer the needs of students, no matter where they're at." — Cheryl Brown

  "[MTSS] can't just be an office on the second floor. It has to be baked into the way HR recruits staff and the way facilities designs space." — Andrea Lillis

  "The core success of MTSS is the psychological shift from 'This is the learning support team's problem' to 'This is our school's challenge.'" — Cheryl Brown

Key Discussion Points

• The Core Challenge: Moving from the older, academic-focused Response to Intervention (RTI) to the holistic, unified MTSS model, which integrates academics, social-emotional, behavioral, and home-school relationships.

• Core Concept: The fundamental psychological shift is realizing, "We're all in this together". MTSS must be a systematic effort that involves every staff member across the school.

• The Crucial Shift: Implementation must be a multi-year, planned process, starting with desired outcomes. MTSS involves everyone across the school working together.

• Practical Application: The necessity of operational teams (HR and Facilities) to provide sensory-friendly spaces, quiet intervention rooms, and specialized staffing, essential for the MTSS model to function.

• The Final Takeaway: Using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in team meetings and communication protocols to reduce barriers and minimize misunderstandings.

Resources & Next Steps

• The Course: The conversation is a preview of the course: Building a School-Wide MTSS Framework.

• Connect with Andrea Lillis (Senia International):

  • Find the organization at seniainternational.org.

  • Email: andrea@seniainternational.org.

• Connect with Cheryl Brown (ISCA):

  • Find ISCA on the web at ISCAINFO.com.

  • Email: cbrowne@iscainfo.com.

• Sign Up: Find details on the MTSS course and other events at ISS.edu/events.

Today, we dive into the architecture of the inclusive classroom, focusing on how to intentionally create multiple access points for authentic participation. Our guest is Sam Drazin, Founder and Executive Director of Changing Perspectives, and the facilitator of the course, Inclusive Classrooms by Design. Drawing on his profound lived experience with Treacher Collins Syndrome , Sam challenges educators to move beyond simple compliance to design learning environments rooted in empathy, disability awareness, and inclusion. We explore the difference between sympathy and true empathy, the power of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and one simple strategy for making change sustainable.

💬 Quotes from the Episode:

• "So the teacher's judgment might be, well, you just pay attention, it's not that hard, right? So how are we able to remove that judgment?" 💡

• "Any new opportunities that we make available for one student can support all students." 🌍

• "I say, Mike, would you like to share? And that gives Mike the choice... I know that Mike was thinking about what I asked because his hand is on his heart." ❤️

• "What we're asking folks to do is think about their practice and consider what is 10% of what they do that they could change." 📊

  
  

📌 Key Insights:

• Empathy is Action: True empathy involves four steps: perspective-taking, staying out of judgment, recognizing connections, and communication. The biggest barrier to tangible action is the failure to remove personal biases and judgments.

  
  

• The Curb Cut Effect: Use the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework. Accommodations should not be seen as exceptions for one student, but as "universal accommodations" made available to all, benefiting the whole community, much like a ramp on a sidewalk.

  
  

• Assessment for Agency: Create nonverbal modes of formative assessment. Strategies like having students put their hand on their heart to signal readiness, or holding up fingers corresponding to numbered answer options, allow students with varied needs (e.g., selective mutism, processing delays) to demonstrate knowledge without complex social or executive demands.

  
  

• The 10% Rule: Inclusive change can feel overwhelming. To ensure sustainability, focus on making small micro-changes—just 10% of your current practice—because collective 10% changes create exponential new opportunities for students.

🛑 Conclusion:

Sam Drazin provides a powerful and practical guide for transforming your classroom into a truly inclusive space where every student can succeed. Remember: this work is about changing systems, not just students! Ready to commit your 10%? Find details on the full course, Inclusive Classrooms by Design, at isss.edu/events. You can also connect with Sam and his organization at changingperspectivesNow.org. Go make a positive impact! 🌟

The admissions journey for neurodivergent applicants and their families can often feel like a barrier. In this crucial episode, we are joined by Catalina Gardescu, a values-driven consultant with over 20 years of experience in international education, who guides us on transforming this sensitive process. This conversation previews her course, Heart Matters, designed for admissions officers and school leaders. Catalina stresses the need for a human-centered approach rooted in empathy and clarity to replace policy-driven fear. Learn how to build genuine trust and make your admissions office a supportive, inclusive entry point for every family.
💬 Quotes from the Episode:

• "We're not talking about admitting the student. We're talking about admitting the family. That is a huge, huge shift in mindset because you're admitting a relationship, you're not admitting a paper trail." 🤝

• "You cannot be human-centered and policy-centered at the same time. If you are policy-centered, you're creating a barrier, you're creating a filter, you're making people feel judged." ⚖️

• "It is about the courage to say no with integrity and with honesty and with clarity, which is far more empathetic than keeping them going along for the ride because you are afraid of what they're going to say." 🧭

• "Every single conversation you have with a prospective family or a prospective student is an opportunity to build trust or to break it... and that is the only currency that matters." 💔

📌 Key Insights:

• Admissions is a Relationship: The process must be viewed as establishing a relationship with the entire family, requiring genuine commitment and care, not just a procedural checklist for the student.

• The Policy/Human Conflict: School leaders must acknowledge that strictly adhering to rigid policy often conflicts with being genuinely human-centered; the process needs to be redesigned with empathy at its core.

• Clarity Equals Trust: Admissions teams build trust through radical honesty and clarity, minimizing the family's deep-seated fear of rejection and judgment by being transparent about the school's capacity and resources.

• Redefining "Fit" as Alignment: The goal should shift from assessing "fit" to establishing alignment—that the family's expectations for support genuinely match the school's mission and resources.

🛑 Conclusion:

Catalina Gardescu offers an essential framework for transforming the admissions experience into one of partnership and inclusion. Ready to let the Heart Matter in your admissions office? Find registration details for the full course, Heart Matters: Supporting Neurodivergent Applicants through Admissions, and check for Catalina's updates on LinkedIn! Go lead with care and empathy! 🌟➡️