MTSS for Speech-Language Pathologists: What’s True and What’s False?
The following true/false statements are designed to build and assess your understanding of key concepts related to MTSS and SLP practice. This activity is an opportunity to confirm your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and identify areas where deeper learning may benefit you and the students you serve.
MTSS is part of the pre-referral process.
False
MTSS is a prevention-oriented framework. There is a strong consensus that a multi-tiered system should never be used to delay evaluation.
Response to intervention (RTI) is part of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS).
True
MTSS is considered a larger framework that encompasses—but is not limited to—Response to Intervention (RTI) . MTSS focuses on the broad area of prevention, whereas RTI is one component of MTSS that focuses more specifically on providing interventions and seeing how students respond.
MTSS is an initiative that applies only to general education students and teachers.
False
All students enrolled in school receive their education within an MTSS framework. All school staff have a role in MTSS and are a part of a team implementing MTSS (adapted from Sylvan & McKenna, 2025).
Research shows that students make progress with Tier 2 support.
True
At Tier 2, students retain the support provided by Tier 1 but receive extra support in areas of identified need—often in small groups or with additional focus and attention paid by educators. Approximately 15% of school-age students can be adequately served through more intense intervention (Tier 2) .
Screening and diagnostic assessments within MTSS look similar and serve similar purposes.
False
Screenings are used to catch potential problems and mitigate future risks in students whose symptoms that school staff have not yet noticed . Speech-language pathologists used iagnostic assessments to determine what condition or disorder explains the symptoms that a student is experiencing. The results of these assessments inform the treatment plan.
For speech-language pathologists, MTSS is relevant at all school levels and ages.
True
MTSS promotes positive outcomes for all children by providing timely, effective instruction and intervention. MTSS involves the same essential components from pre-K through 12th grade—all though implementation may look different at the middle and high school levels (e.g., organizational structure, focus on credits, and scheduling logistics). MTSS is meant to be fluid, adaptable, ongoing support. Speech-language pathologists can navigate MTSS alongside the goals of special education.
MTSS involves only the academic content areas of a) reading and math and (b) social-emotional and behavioral practices.
False
Communication is essential for learning and is the foundation upon which success in all academic and social–emotional domains are built. MTSS promotes how communication, language, and speech are integral to a student’s education.
MTSS is an initiative that applies to special education students and teachers as well as general education students and teachers.
True
MTSS is an initiative that applies to students and teachers in both general education and special education . All staff member s play a role in MTSS as a critical part of the team to support students through implementing MTSS (adapted from Sylvan & McKenna, 2025 ) .
If a parent/guardian or teacher expresses concerns about a child, then the first step should be a routine screening.
False
Once a parent /guardian or a teacher has expressed concern, the child should not be treated as an asymptomatic case—therefore, the child does not need to undergo screen ing. If a student is experiencing noticeable concerns (e.g., articulation issues, language delays), then the speech-language patholog ist does not need to conduct a routine screening: Instead, they should conduct a diagnostic assessment (see, e.g., Sylvan et. al., 2025).
School-wide assesssments typically used to evaluate a students' performance on literacy and math curricular standards can essentially function as screening tools.
False
School staff use school-wide assessments related to literacy and math curricular standards to identify which students have reached grade-level benchmarks. Many students with reading or language disabilities are likely to initially score within grade-level expectations, but they may show slower growth than their peers without disabilities.
