Understanding the Use of an Early Warning System to Support Tier 2 Literacy Interventions in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System

In the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System (CNMI PSS) piloted an early warning system (EWS) in all nine of its elementary schools using a two-cohort model. The CNMI PSS designed the EWS in partnership with the REL Pacific to help educators improve data-driven decisionmaking around reading instruction and assignment of Tier 2 interventions, which provide intensive academic support for students at risk of not meeting reading benchmarks. Two years after the pilot, the CNMI Data Wayfinding Partnership for the Improvement of Literacy wanted to examine how elementary schools implemented the EWS during the 2023/24 school year.

Key findings form this study include:

• Elementary schools across both cohorts generally followed the seven EWS steps, though use of the EWS platform and assignment of interventions varied.
• All elementary schools reported using both EWS and non-EWS data and processes in determining Tier 2 interventions.
• Potential challenges, such as perceived misalignment between curriculum and assessments, coupled with the large amount of data to analyze, might have prevented schools from fully implementing the EWS to support Tier 2 interventions.

These findings suggests that CNMI PSS may want to provide a combination of targeted and general supports around the EWS platform and process may increase how consistently PSS implements the EWS as intended. Leadership may also consider reexamining guidance and supports on the use of EWS data—alongside non-EWS data sources—to help schools decide which students to assign to Tier 2 interventions. Finally, evaluating the alignment between standardized assessments and curriculum for reading may also help elementary schools use the EWS.