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What MTSS data to collect, and how to read it

By Jasa Todorovich. Last updated Sep 27, 2026

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The short answer

A multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) runs on three kinds of data: screening data, progress monitoring data, and implementation data that shows whether assessments and interventions were delivered as intended. The Center on Multi-Tiered System of Supports at the American Institutes for Research (the MTSS Center) names four essential components: screening, progress monitoring, a multi-level prevention system, and data-based decision making.

The data only becomes a decision when a team reads it against written decision rules. The MTSS Center says data-based decision making depends on them, and the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) publishes three common ones, covered below.

What the four components ask of your data

Component What the MTSS Center says it is for
Screening Identify students who may be at risk for poor outcomes and need additional support.
Progress monitoring Assess performance, quantify a student's rate of improvement or responsiveness, and evaluate whether instruction and intervention are working.
Multi-level prevention system Organize supports into three tiers of increasing intensity.
Data-based decision making Use data to decide on instruction, movement between tiers, intensification, allocation of resources and, in accordance with state law, disability identification.

What to collect at each tier

Tier What the tier is Data that drives it Question the data answers
Tier 1 High-quality, schoolwide programming for all students Universal screening of every student, plus school and grade-level trends Is core programming working, and which students may be at risk?
Tier 2 Small group, standardized interventions with demonstrated positive effects Progress monitoring on a set schedule Is the student responding, and do they still need the intervention?
Tier 3 Intervention intensified and individualized for students not responding to Tier 2 Frequent, graphed progress monitoring, reviewed with diagnostic data Is the adapted intervention working, and if not, why not?

The MTSS Center describes the tiers as fluid: students can receive services at all tiers depending on need, and access follows an iterative, data-driven problem-solving process. In effective Tier 1 systems, it says, most students benefit from Tier 1 programming alone.

Screening data

Screening is a systematic process for finding students who may be at risk for poor outcomes in academics, behavior, engagement, school completion, and college and career readiness. The MTSS Center says it is generally conducted three times a year. The What Works Clearinghouse practice guide on Response to Intervention in reading for the primary grades recommends screening all students at the beginning of the year and again in the middle, partly because early screening measures are imperfect.

A screening score is not a verdict on its own. The MTSS Center says educators review screening data with additional information to confirm a student's risk status. The same practice guide warns that cut points set to catch every at-risk child also flag a sizeable group of children who will develop normal reading skills, and it recommends using screening to identify a pool that progress monitoring then narrows.

Screening data serves every level of the system:

  • District teams use it for decisions about program improvement, curriculum, allocation of resources and efficiency of supports across schools.
  • School teams use it to review school and grade-level trends, check the effectiveness of schoolwide curriculum, and set measurable schoolwide goals.
  • Teachers use it to identify students who need additional support.

Progress monitoring data

The MTSS Center defines progress monitoring as the ongoing, frequent collection and use of formal data with valid and reliable measures. Each student's progress monitoring plan should name the measure, how often data is collected, baseline data, a goal set with a validated strategy, the decision rules, and the dates the data will be reviewed.

How often is often enough depends on the tier and the evidence:

  • Tier 2. The reading practice guide recommends monitoring Tier 2 students at least once a month, and at least eight times during the school year. It notes that some researchers recommend weekly assessment, but that little evidence shows weekly measures are superior to monthly ones. The panel rated the evidence for this recommendation as low.
  • Tier 3. NCII says educators should collect and graph frequent progress monitoring data during intensive intervention, and mark each change to the intervention with a phase change line on the graph.

The MTSS Center also suggests a routine for reviewing the data, for example every two weeks, and spreading data collection across the week rather than testing every student on the same day.

How to read progress monitoring data: three decision rules

NCII's tip sheet describes three common rules for academic progress monitoring data. Each compares the student's data to the goal line on the progress monitoring graph.

Rule When you can apply it If above the goal line If below the goal line If mixed or on the line
Four-point analysis At least three weeks of instruction and six data points; examine the four most recent Increase the goal Consider adapting the intervention Keep collecting data
Trend line analysis At least four weeks of instruction and eight data points Trend steeper than the goal line: increase the goal Trend flatter: consider adapting the intervention and assess fidelity Trend matches: keep collecting data
Median of last three data points At least four weeks of instruction and eight data points Median above: increase the goal Median below: consider adapting the intervention and assess fidelity Median on the line: keep collecting data

NCII's trade-offs: the four-point rule is the simplest to read on a graph but can be swayed by outliers. Trend line analysis is highly accurate but needs enough data points and a calculation. The median of the last three limits the influence of outliers.

When a student's progress is insufficient, NCII says the teacher consults with a team to decide how to intensify the intervention, and progress monitoring data may be reviewed with diagnostic data to form a hypothesis about why the student is not responding.

Using MTSS data for continuous school improvement

The MTSS Center describes data-based decision making as the primary driver for school improvement in a model of continuous improvement. Three practices it names turn student data into system improvement:

  • Separate teams by purpose. Some teams meet less often to evaluate school or districtwide implementation; others meet more often to review individual or group progress in an intervention.
  • Collect implementation data. Teams evaluate whether assessments, interventions and supports were implemented as intended, and plan for fidelity to limit errors in administration, scoring and data entry.
  • Write an evaluation plan early. An evaluation plan with short and long-term goals, developed early in implementation, helps teams monitor impact, identify barriers and refine implementation.

District and school teams may also use systems-level progress monitoring data to assess whether their own interventions are effective.

The classroom version of the same habit, a cycle of collecting data, forming a testable hypothesis and changing instruction, is covered in data-based decision making in education.

Where Lorsey fits

Lorsey combines learning signals from connected curriculum and assessment systems and helps schools decide what each student should work on next. It does not replace those systems or provide its own curriculum.

Frequently asked questions

What data is used in MTSS?

Screening data, progress monitoring data and implementation data. The MTSS Center says teams use multiple data sources, including screening and progress monitoring data, to make decisions about instruction, movement between tiers, intensification and, in accordance with state law, disability identification.

How often should universal screening happen in MTSS?

The MTSS Center says screening is generally conducted three times a year. The What Works Clearinghouse reading practice guide for the primary grades recommends screening all students at the beginning and middle of the year.

How often should progress monitoring happen at Tier 2?

The What Works Clearinghouse reading practice guide recommends at least once a month and at least eight times during the school year, and rates the evidence for that recommendation as low. At Tier 3, NCII calls for frequent, graphed progress monitoring.

What is the four-point rule in progress monitoring?

After at least three weeks of instruction and six data points, look at the four most recent points. If all four are above the goal line, increase the goal. If all four are below it, consider adapting the intervention. If they fall on both sides, keep collecting data.

What should be in a student progress monitoring plan?

The MTSS Center lists the selected measure, the frequency of data collection, baseline data, a goal based on a validated goal setting strategy, decision rules, and data review dates.

Is RTI the same as MTSS?

The What Works Clearinghouse practice guide describes Response to Intervention as combining universal screening and high-quality instruction for all students with interventions targeted at struggling students. NCII notes that intensive intervention may be known as Tier 3 intervention within an MTSS framework.

Sources

Lorsey is not affiliated with or endorsed by the American Institutes for Research, the MTSS Center, the National Center on Intensive Intervention or the U.S. Department of Education. Their public materials are cited here to describe practices schools already use.