Creating Lasting MTSS Change: Insights from Mesquite ISD

Mesquite Independent School District first partnered with Panorama Education in 2021 to implement Student and Teacher & Staff Feedback Surveys. The insights gained sparked momentum, leading to an even deeper collaboration. Most recently, Mesquite ISD—a North Texas district with 38,000 students across 52 campuses—embraced an adaptive mindset and worked with Panorama to unify its MTSS framework and drive measurable impact.

At a recent Texas district leader meetup in San Marcos, Panorama’s Georgia Bambrick (Senior Professional Learning Director) sat down with Kristy Davis (Director of Counseling Services, Mesquite ISD) and Keich Willis (At-Risk Coordinator, Mesquite ISD) to talk about their district’s journey in leading this systemwide change.

Challenges

• Mesquite lacked a unified MTSS framework, making progress monitoring inconsistent.
• Schools had limited visibility into comprehensive student data—specifically around life skills and student well-being.
• Ultimately, educators needed clearer expectations and a shared language for MTSS. 

Solution

• Panorama Student Success

Results

• Mesquite has more streamlined processes to track interventions and student progress, ensuring students receive the appropriate support.
• Student grouping and filtering in Panorama Student Success makes identifying needs and planning interventions more manageable.
• Life skills and well-being are prioritized at an individual student level.
• Staff across all 52 campuses is beginning to speak the same MTSS language, aligned with district expectations

Challenges

Before implementing Panorama Student Success, MTSS varied widely across Mesquite ISD. Without a unified system, schools relied on different intervention processes—some were highly structured, while others lacked consistency.

“We were all doing MTSS, but it looked different on every campus,” said Keich Willis, At-Risk Coordinator at Mesquite ISD. Without a centralized system to monitor progress, they couldn’t answer questions like: Are students engaged in class? Are students successfully moving forward with their interventions?

Educators also struggled to access student data in a meaningful way. Academic, behavior, attendance, and other data were scattered across different platforms, making it difficult to gain a complete picture of student needs. While life skills and student well-being were district priorities, gathering and leveraging that information at an individual student level remained a challenge.

“We had programs where we could pull the data out. Sometimes people knew how to pull the data, but they don't know what to do with it. So it was just different all across the board, and we wanted to make sure we were all speaking the same language,” said Willis.

Without a district-wide accountability system that ensured interventions were being tracked effectively, some students could remain in intervention plans indefinitely, with no structured way to assess progress. What Mesquite needed was a shared approach to MTSS language, clear expectations, and a process for measuring success.

Solution

To begin addressing these needs, Mesquite adopted Panorama Student Success.The platform centralized MTSS data and processes across all campuses.

And the adoption process for Student Success was intentional—the district ran collaborative vision-building workshops and gathered input early on from key stakeholders. With this approach, Mesquite was able to move forward with confidence, having gauged staff understanding of MTSS to ensure the platform would add value rather than create more work.

When Georgia Bambrick (Panorama’s Professional Learning Director) asked district leaders what stood out about Student Success, they highlighted the platform's unified approach. Student Success allows educators to see everything in one place: SIS data, test scores, life skills, survey responses, attendance, behavior, and academics. Information—scattered before—was now streamlined, so staff could immediately see which students needed support.

Panorama Student Success (demo data displayed)

“As soon as you open up a student's profile, you can just automatically see where they are—whether they're doing great, in a bubble, or if they need attention—without even going too far into the data,” said Willis.

Another key feature was the ability to filter and group students based on intervention needs, making it easier for staff to identify and support students. “It's not so overwhelming when you're looking at 10 kids’ names as opposed to 300 kids’ names,” said Kristy Davis, Director of Counseling Services at Mesquite ISD.

Developing an MTSS Manual

Recognizing that technology alone wouldn’t drive change, Mesquite worked with Panorama to also develop an MTSS manual—a clear roadmap to ensure all staff had consistent guidance in supporting students.

"A platform is just a place to hold information. It doesn’t tell people what to do, nor does it hold them accountable. We needed a guide," Willis shared.

Samples of Mesquite ISD's MTSS Manual

What they needed was a foundational resource—built from the ground up—to establish a unified vision for MTSS across all campuses. Written in a common language, this manual would provide standardized expectations and clear intervention steps—ensuring teachers, district leaders, and even substitutes understood their roles in MTSS.

By co-constructing this manual with Panorama, Mesquite fostered a shared ownership of MTSS—ensuring that the work wasn’t just about documentation, but about shifting the district’s culture toward a more adaptive and responsive approach to student support.

Phased Rollout to Build Buy-In

Rather than launching district-wide immediately, Mesquite took a measured, strategic approach to ensure long-term success:

• Pilot Schools: A few volunteer campuses tested the platform and provided feedback.
• Teacher Champions: Key teachers were trained as campus leads to support their peers.
• 1:1 Coaching: Panorama provided personalized support to help refine best practices.

By focusing on generating small wins and gradual scaling, the district ensured successful implementation without overwhelming staff.

Impact: A New Level of AI-Enhanced Decision-Making

Today, Mesquite’s MTSS framework is more collaborative, data-driven, and sustainable than ever. By streamlining intervention tracking, creating a common language around MTSS, and prioritizing holistic student data, they have built a stronger, more connected support system for their students.

One of the biggest transformations has been how educators track student progress and ensure interventions lead to real change. The ability to automate reminders and track interventions in real time has helped keep teams accountable while making sure students receive the right support when they need it.

Progress monitoring in Panorama Student Success (demo data displayed)

"If the intervention has no progress monitoring, it gives you a little nudge, like, ‘Hey, there’s something you haven’t done.’ And not only does the Teacher Champion get that, but the people on the team also get it. So everyone who is part of creating this intervention for a student is now responsible for actually doing something with it." Willis explained. “Schools don’t have to wait for an evaluation to know if the kids are doing well. You should know where your kids are at all times. To me, that’s success.”

Beyond tracking interventions, Mesquite staff can now filter and group students by specific intervention needs, enabling them to quickly identify and support those who need it most. This targeted approach also elevates key life skills, ensuring student support extends beyond academics.

A major factor in their success has been the district-wide MTSS manual, which has unified language and expectations across all 52 campuses. This shared framework has strengthened collaboration and consistency throughout the district. This change didn’t come from the top down. Instead, it grew from the ground up, shaped by the voices of educators and school staff. It wasn’t just a district-led initiative—it was something everyone created together.

“Mesquite ISD built a coalition, formed a strategic vision, and enlisted volunteer pilot schools. They removed barriers by providing support and generating easy wins. Now, they’re increasing the pace by following this overarching change management, system-wide idea and applying adaptive change,” said Bambrick.

Looking Ahead: Next Steps 

With district-wide implementation in motion, Mesquite is committed to continuous refinement. Next, they will resurvey schools to measure the impact of the pilot phase and identify areas for improvement. As they finalize the MTSS manual, they will ensure every staff member has a go-to resource for best practices.

Training efforts will reach more district leaders and teachers, deepening their understanding of how to use Panorama Student Success effectively. More than just a new initiative, MTSS is becoming embedded into the district’s culture as a sustained, long-term practice.

By embracing an adaptive mindset, prioritizing data-driven decision-making, and building a strong foundation for MTSS, Mesquite Independent School District is ensuring that every student receives the right support at the right time.