Strengths-Based MTSS
(Multi-Tiered System of Supports)
Character – Social Emotional Learning – Behavior
The Positivity Project (P2) provides a Tier 1 solution designed to reach all learners, cultivating character strengths and fostering positive relationships school-wide. This universal approach ensures every student benefits from consistent, proactive character education/social-emotional learning (SEL) through positive psychology’s 24 character strengths.
Beyond Tier 1, P2 seamlessly integrates with MTSS to deliver targeted solutions that support both intervention and enrichment. For students requiring additional guidance, P2 informs strategic interventions (Tier 2) and intensive support (Tier 3). Simultaneously, it offers resources to enrich learning experiences, enabling students to further apply and develop their character strengths at these tiers.
With P2, schools can implement a comprehensive framework that supports all learners, ensuring both foundational and personalized growth opportunities.
What’s different about P2’s approach to MTSS?
The Positivity Project is a strengths-based approach to character education and SEL. Through P2, schools can focus on what’s right with students, not just what’s wrong with them. This doesn’t mean ignoring challenges or weaknesses. Instead, character strengths provide tools to help students navigate life’s inevitable adversities. When students face areas for growth, they can rely on the character strengths and positive relationships they are learning about – and building – through The Positivity Project.
P2’s approach to MTSS emphasizes a strengths-based framework, shifting away from traditional models that primarily focus on identifying deficits or problems.
Here’s how P2’s approach stands out:
- Improvement Through Empowerment: Instead of framing support as fixing something that’s “broken,” P2’s approach frames intervention as a means of empowering students. When students see that educators believe in their potential, it can lead to greater motivation, resilience, and a sense of self-efficacy.
- Leveraging Strengths for Growth: P2 utilizes the strengths of students as a foundation to help them overcome adversities in their lives. This approach fosters a more optimistic and empowering environment, where students are seen as capable of growth and change, even when facing significant challenges.
- Adversity as a Catalyst for Strength: P2 acknowledges that students often face significant life challenges, and instead of merely trying to alleviate these difficulties, the approach aims to help students use these experiences as stepping stones for personal growth. By connecting strengths with strategies for overcoming adversity, students can build the resilience needed to thrive both academically and personally.
In summary, P2’s MTSS approach addresses adversity by emphasizing strengths and empowerment. It positions students not as problems to be fixed — but as individuals with inherent potential that can be nurtured and developed. This helps create a more positive, supportive, and motivating environment for learning.
Integrated Approach
Tier 1
Whole Class Core Differentiated Instruction
- P2 provides daily 15-minute lessons promoting character strengths, and social-emotional learning (SEL) for all students.
- Focuses on proactive, universal lessons that foster belonging and character strength development.
Tier 2
Core Instruction + Strategic Interventions / Enrichment
- Strategic Interventions: MTSS strategies like small group activities align with P2’s resources.
- Strategic Enrichment: Advanced P2 resources deepen students’ engagement with their strengths.
Tier 3
Core Instruction + Targeted Interventions / Enrichment
- Targeted Interventions: For students with more significant needs, individualized P2-aligned interventions focus on building resilience and fostering relationships.
- Targeted Enrichment: Offers tailored activities that help students apply strengths in meaningful, specialized ways.
| Tier 3: Targeted Intervention | Tier 2: Strategic Intervention | Tier 1: P2 Instruction (Proactive and Preventative) | Tier 2: Strategic Enrichment | Tier 3: Targeted Enrichment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended Minutes: +10–15 minutes per day or more | Recommended Minutes: +5–10 minutes per day or more | Recommended Minutes: 10–15 minutes per day (Baseline) | Recommended Minutes: +5–10 minutes per day or more | Recommended Minutes: +10–15 minutes per day or more |
| Staffing: Counselor, administrator, specialized service provider or behavior support specialist | Staffing: Classroom or behavior support specialist | Staffing: Classroom teacher(s) | Staffing: Classroom teacher or additional staff | Staffing: Classroom teacher or additional staff |
| Group Size: Small group or individual | Group Size: Reduced group size | Group Size: Whole class | Group Size: Reduced group size | Group Size: Small group or individual |
| Resources: Tier 3 Toolkits for individual or small group interventions, coordinated with parents, and facilitated by specialized school staff. | Resources: Daily Lessons, Mindful Moment/Mindful Pause, Redirection Guidance, Relationship Courses, Resources for Adolescent Adversity, and P2 for Families (at school) | Resources: Daily Lessons, Character Cards, Mindful Moment/Mindful Pause, Assemblies, Daily Announcements, Weekly Family Letters, and P2 for Families (at home) | Resources: Spiral Review Scenarios, Scripted PBLs, Service Learning, MS Elective, HS Elective, P2 for P.E. and Clubs, Character Strength Self-Reflection, Choice Boards, and Character Strengths in Action | Resources: Full-Length PBLs, Service Learning, Student Leadership Groups, and Essay/Video Activity |
Schedule a Meeting
Join us in building a generation of students who understand the power of character and relationships. Whether you’re an educator, parent, or community leader, you can help bring The Positivity Project to your school and make a lasting impact on students’ lives.
Get in touch to set up an Implementation meeting today.