‍

Breaking Down MTSS: SEL and Equity

Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Michigan State Representative Jaime Thompson does not support SEL. In front of the House Oversight Committee, Thompson commented that many programs push to make SEL the central focus, raising issues about what exactly the role of the school is versus the role of the family. "We do not co-parent with the government." Thompson said. Yet, SEL appears to be aiming for that role.

Thompson shared that critics question whether SEL diverts time and resources from actual academics. Many are concerned for parental rights. “Parents have raised objections,” she said, “that SEL curriculum may encroach on their value system, their own character, and their beliefs…—areas where families believe [schools] should be refraining from."

Michigan State Senator Lana Theis, former Chair of the Senate’s Education Committee, also spoke against SEL before the House Oversight Committee. “All SEL does is tell students to keep checking in with their feelings. We’re causing them anxiety. We’re causing them depression. We’re not strengthening them in any way,” she said.

Theis compared SEL to group therapy, calling it “causative of trauma.” As part of SEL, students release information that they have no business telling other kids, sharing what that they otherwise wouldn’t if they weren’t feeling pressured.

At the November 13 State Board of Education meeting, one of the public commenters put it this way: “Kids are subjected to personality quizzes, self-reflection prompts, and empathy exercises. There's no escape... Learning is not therapy. You're treating reading failure with therapy instead of teaching kids to read… We don't want you to probe the minds of our children and shape their world views. Nor should teachers be expected to act as therapists or spiritual gurus. Parents need to see through the rhetoric and the fog of whole child education.”

(With Michigan schools ranking below forty-four states across the nation, should educators be sacrificing learning time dabbling out of their lanes, in the health and mental health fields? Is that what parents have asked them to do?)

Equity in Education
The word equity is different from equality. Equality is having the same opportunities or resources for everyone. Equity looks at each person’s circumstances and allocates resources and opportunities so that everyone achieves an equal outcome.

Equity in Education, a DEI term, ensures high outcomes for all participants. Hetherton explained that it’s about having a guaranteed and viable curriculum for all students so that each will have success moving through a K-12 system. 80% of students should be doing very well without assistance. And with the 20% of students that aren't, interventions will be used through surveys, data, coaching, and leadership, on both the academic and behavior sides.

Roughly 500 of the roughly 5,700 ZPS students are in a specialty program of one kind or another. When contemplating the budget deficit, the administrators looked at ways to improve programming and make it more consolidated so that there could be larger, more equitable paths and access—while also considering the budget issue.

Looking at the Gifted and Talented (GT) program, Hetherton talked about how the idea to put GT students in the same class dates back to the 70s and 80s. However, recent studies show that GT students (those with high creativity, high ability to complete tasks, and above average intellectual ability) should instead be accelerated—either put in the next grade for a particular subject or in the next grade entirely.

(The boardroom full of parents, who spoke about how learning beside GT peers had pushed their children to accelerate their learning, might disagree.)

Hetherton added that research suggests that the Spanish Immersion program or the new project-based learning track will be good for GT students. Independent studies might be an option as well. Any time you get out and about and travel and do things that are above and beyond the normal day—such as the new extension track will be—is good for anyone, including GT students, Hetherton assured.

He then told about other districts doing the extension model. Jenison, for example, busses their students on a particular day to have a half day of extended learning at another school. The rest of the week, the GT students are in a traditional classroom.

(Will extensions be enough to replace all the ways in which students benefitted from ZQuest and the Venture programs? Will it be enough for the GT students?)

One community member, with a MEd in Gifted and Talented, commented. “With the scripted curriculums for State testing and class sizes today (not specifically Zeeland Public), it is not possible for the regular classroom teacher to correctly challenge academically gifted kids properly. They deserve classroom experiences that will expand and extend their knowledge and insight. Using them to coach reading groups or help students who are below grade level does not provide the education they deserve.”

MTSS and Added Staff

With the new framework, there is a district implementation team that reports to or give directions to a leadership team, which are the principles, coaches, and APs. And they give direction to other coaches and the guiding coalitions in the building—who are looking at behavior data and academic data. There is also a Head of Schools Wellbeing whose salary was initially paid for with ESSR funds.

(With the amount of administration in place, perhaps the teacher salaries are not that ones that need review.)

The Future

MTSS currently is in Michigan’s Revised School Code and funding is tied to its implementation.

(Will Michigan be able increase its ranking if schools aren’t prioritizing their one role: to educate?

With the addition of MTSS—and all the components and staffing that come with it—how will ZPS, and the other schools that have implemented it, have enough time to focus on core subjects? Will they be able to graduate educated, critical thinkers who can read, write, spell, know their history, know the Constitution, and contribute to society?)