Embrace helps schools bring Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and Individualized Education Program (IEP) processes together, making it easier to document interventions, monitor student progress and share information between educators. With connected tools and accessible student records, staff can spend less time managing information and more time understanding and responding to each learner's needs.
Results at a glance
- One central location for student plans and progress, making information easier for teachers and specialists to access and update.
- More consistent MTSS processes, replacing separate documents and approaches with shared workflows.
- Easier collaboration, allowing educators and specialists to contribute to the same student records.
- Simpler transitions to IEP evaluations, with MTSS information transferred directly into the initial IEP process.
- Less time spent managing information, reducing the need to search across different documents or manually transfer records.
- Straightforward everyday use, with a system staff described as easy to navigate.
Fox Lake School District 114 serves more than 700 K–12 students across two district buildings in Illinois. The district is committed to supporting learning and growth through continuous improvement, with each student's needs at the center of its decisions.
EmbraceThe challenge
Every student learns differently, and the support they need can change over time.
For educators, understanding that progress means having access to accurate information about the interventions students have received and how they've responded.
At Fox Lake, this information was spread across different documents and locations.
School psychologists, teachers and other specialists often created their own forms to record MTSS plans and progress.
Without a shared approach, maintaining consistent records and accessing the information needed to support students became more difficult.
Making everyday processes easier for educators
The district had explored other ways to manage MTSS documentation, but these approaches didn't provide the functionality staff needed.
Some processes involved additional steps that took valuable time away from other responsibilities.
Fox Lake wanted to make it easier for educators to record interventions, review progress and work together without navigating multiple documents.
Supporting smoother transitions from MTSS to IEP evaluation
When a student needs an initial evaluation for an IEP, the information collected through MTSS can provide important context.
Fox Lake needed a way to carry that information forward without unnecessary manual work.
The goal was to create a more consistent process that would help educators maintain continuity as students moved between different levels of support.
The solution
Fox Lake was already familiar with EmbraceIEP® and valued its ease of use.
When the district learned that Embrace also offered an MTSS solution that connected with its IEP software, it saw an opportunity to simplify its processes further.
By introducing EmbraceMTSS®, Fox Lake created a shared approach to documenting student plans, tracking progress and connecting information with the IEP evaluation process.
"We were so excited there was an MTSS component, a lot of companies don't have the MTSS component that talks to the IEP software."
Making student plans and progress easier to access
With EmbraceMTSS®, teachers and specialists could record and review student information in one central location.
Staff could upload progress data, contribute to student plans and access the information needed to understand how interventions were working.
"All of your teachers and specialists can add on to [the plan] and it's all in one place." - Cathy Jawnyj
Creating more consistent everyday processes
EmbraceMTSS® also helped Fox Lake establish a shared approach to recording interventions and monitoring progress.
With student information available through one system, educators could follow more consistent processes and collaborate more easily.
The straightforward design made the software easier for staff to use as part of their everyday work.
This made it easier for educators to work from the same information and maintain a clearer picture of each student's progress.
Connecting MTSS information with IEP evaluations
One of the most valuable changes for Fox Lake was the ability to transfer MTSS information directly into the initial IEP evaluation process.
Rather than manually moving information between systems, school psychologists could carry relevant student records forward through a connected workflow.
"When we are ready to move the student to an initial evaluation for an IEP, the school psychologist can click a button and transfer the MTSS information over into the initial IEP process."
The impact
For Fox Lake, connecting MTSS and IEP information made a practical difference to how educators worked together.
Instead of managing separate documents, staff could access student plans, contribute progress information and review interventions through one shared system.
This helped the district create more consistent processes while making important student information easier to find and use.
Better visibility of student progress
With intervention plans and progress data stored together, teachers and specialists gained easier access to information about the support students were receiving.
This made it more straightforward to review progress and understand how students were responding to interventions.
Smoother transitions between support processes
Connecting EmbraceMTSS® with EmbraceIEP® helped Fox Lake simplify the move from MTSS documentation to an initial IEP evaluation.
Relevant information could be transferred directly, reducing the need to re-enter data and helping educators maintain continuity in student records.
Less time spent on administrative tasks
Bringing information together also reduced the complexity of everyday documentation.
Staff no longer needed to rely on separate forms and disconnected processes to maintain MTSS records.
For educators, that meant a simpler way to manage information and more time available to focus on understanding student needs.
For Fox Lake, the impact goes beyond simpler documentation. It's about helping educators work together, understand student progress and provide the right support as needs change.
Because when information moves with the learner, educators are better equipped to help every student make progress.
Help your educators bring MTSS and IEP information together, simplify progress tracking and maintain continuity as students' needs change with Embrace's connected solutions.
