Between Rhetoric and Reality: MTSS and the Systemic Contradictions of Educational Equity

• In Event: Equity, Justice, and Transformation in Special and Inclusive Education

Abstract

Understanding how educational inequities persist across systems and over time is essential for advancing equity‑focused research, policy, and practice. Despite widespread promotion of Multi‑Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) as a remedy for racial and disability‑based disparities, implementation often falls short of equity goals (e.g., Fallon et al., 2023; McIntosh et al., 2021; Thorius & Macy, 2014). Using qualitative comparative methods, we analyzed four state education agency (SEA) websites and 17 semi-structured interviews with SEA-level personnel to explore how MTSS is portrayed and enacted. Findings reveal systemic contradictions—ideological, structural, and relational—that constrain MTSS, situating implementation breakdowns within multilevel policy, organizational, and contextual conditions.

Authors

• Jane Y. Jeong, University of Texas at Austin

• Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides, Hunter College - CUNY