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Planning for Systems Change

In this chapter, we introduce multi‐tiered systems through the lens of complex change theory. Creating robust MTSS requires adaptive change throughout organizations. Facilitating this level of change requires an understanding of complex change, implementation science, and improvement science as drivers of success. We offer a Deeper Learning Model for MTSS, which explicitly connects MTSS to critical equity work and highlights the importance of deep, authentic learning experiences for all students.

The View from My Window (Kristan)

Recently, I moved to the eastern coast of Puerto Rico. Each night, I fall asleep to two sounds—the call of the coqui frog and the “woosh” of breaking waves. As the sun peeks out in the morning, the waves serve as an ancient siren song, luring me into the ocean. However, I have yet to heed that call. Instead, I sit at my desk, my fingers on the keyboard, staring at the blue light until I’m too exhausted to consider a moonlight voyage. It seems obvious that I should slam the laptop shut, walk over to the marina I can see from my terrace, and sail away. I promise that someday soon, I will charter a catamaran to Culebra, an island that encompasses wonders beneath its waves, spending a day filled with white sand, calm waters, and the sea life that I only see in the framed photos on my office wall.

It is not like I haven’t taken some steps toward this goal. I even bought a snorkel! It currently sits in a drawer, in its plastic packaging, not yet having had the chance to peek at the leatherback turtles that hatch off my island shore that serves as protected land. I have the desire, the equipment, and the vision. But I have not yet taken all the steps necessary to change. It’s time.

Our Call

We have all been engulfed by waves of educational shifts that pull us to make changes. While the past few years have taught us resiliency, they have also taught us that what we thought was, and always would be, the model for education in this country is quite malleable. If ever there was a time for us to evaluate our systems to design ones that can be more proactive, more responsive, and more successful, it is now.

Like us, you know, without a doubt, that educators are capable of creating something that works better for everyone. You can see it. You have a vision, one that nags at you. As a district leader, a school leader, or a member of a distributed leadership team, you feel in your bones the call for system shifts like the pull of waves in the ocean. However, let’s be clear: the work you are doing in schools, the moral imperative of creating something that positively impacts all learners, is far more important and far more complex. The snorkeling anecdote illustrates that even small goals and small changes are difficult to make when we are committed to our routines. Changing how we educate our youth and educators is monumental, but there is a science behind it. We can take steps to realize our vision, but first, we must recognize the challenges we face and create a strategy for addressing those areas.

It may be helpful to recognize that two types of challenges require us to change: technical problems and adaptive challenges (Heifetz et al., 2009). Technical problems can be addressed through existing solutions and expert guidance. The barrier of identifying high‐quality instructional materials is a technical problem that can be addressed by accessing research from organizations like EdReports and WhatWorks Clearinghouse and using curriculum alignment rubrics. These types of problems differ from adaptive challenges (e.g., learning how to get teachers to use instructional materials in ways that are inclusive, equitable, and promote deeper learning), which require leaders and stakeholders to collaboratively experiment with new procedures, norms, or beliefs to address problems of practice (Pak et al., 2020). A great example of an adaptive challenge as it relates to curriculum adoption was discussed by Pak and colleagues (2020) in the research paper “The Adaptive Challenges of Curriculum Implementation.”

It helps to adaptively uncover some of the root causes behind teachers’ issues with these technical resources, as some of these root causes address teachers’ mindsets about student ability and cultural interests (i.e., the adaptive challenge of speaking the unspeakable)….

While there were teachers across all districts who appreciated the rigor of the provided curriculum for exposing them to the demands of the standards, there were also teachers who expressed that their students did not have the “prerequisite skills, prior knowledge, or background experience to keep up with the pacing” in the curricula (teacher interview, Orrington). Statements such as this reflect the fixed mindset that students’ intelligence levels are static, rendering them unprepared to take on academic challenges (p. 8).

This example makes it clear that it would be much quicker to adopt a curriculum review rubric than to challenge ableist mindsets about student potential. The work of instructional leaders is to consistently work toward a shared vision while balancing and addressing our systems’ technical and adaptive barriers (Table 1.1).

The book UDL Playbook for School and District Leaders (Novak and Woodlock, 2021) shares another example of how adaptive challenges will require much more than technical fixes and how it’s the adaptive challenges that will require long‐term commitment, passion, and patience.

If you have a negative staff culture, you can’t just pick up the phone and fix it. You can’t read a blog online or show a video and solve it. There are no procedures addressing what to do when your staff feels hopeless, not listened to, and uninspired. Sure, you can host a morning coffee as a technical bandaid, but that won’t solve your problem. Adaptive challenges will take every strength you have.

Table 1.1 Technical and adaptive challenges.

Source: Adapted from Heifetz et al. (2009).

Pause and Reflect

Brainstorm some of the challenges you are facing in your leadership practice as it relates to building a system that supports all learners. Are they technical problems or adaptive challenges?

Suppose you and your team have already completed an equity review or a district self‐assessment. In that case, you may have begun to invest in necessary changes, but your district will not realize full implementation and complex change until all the systems are in place, and that work is not easy. We want you to feel confident in navigating the tides of systems change. We are here to charter this journey with you. When we finally build the multi‐tiered system that our students, staff, families, and communities deserve, we can all celebrate with a snorkeling trip (bring your sunscreen and life preservers!).

The Need for Complex Change

The persistent achievement gap between privileged and nonprivileged populations has been referred to as the “most stubborn, perplexing issue confronting American schools today” (Evans, 2005, p. 582). Some researchers argue that the achievement and opportunity gaps are “an act of civil war” (Thirunarayanan, 2004, p. 479). We all know this needs to change. What is missing is concrete guidance on how to accomplish this.

Creating robust multi‐tiered systems will require us to make significant changes to our systems and structures. Understanding change theory, therefore, is a helpful foundation for thinking about the work ahead. Understanding the bigger picture of how change occurs helps visualize the journey. In the following sections, we will unpack major change theories and make concrete connections to how these theories will impact your work in building comprehensive MTSS systems. Think of them as tools in your toolbox as you learn more about how to put theory into practice.

Unfreeze‐Change‐Refreeze Model

In 1947, Kurt Lewin theorized the unfreeze‐change‐refreeze model, which argued that for change to occur, practitioners have to reject and replace prior systems. “Prior systems” are the current beliefs, practices, and routines we must change. Turns out, this is much more difficult than one would think. The book Unlearning: Changing...