Tier 1: The Universal/Classroom Level

Tier 1 provides high quality instructional and behavioral supports for all students in general education.

In a Response to Intervention system, almost all students begin learning in their regular classroom. Teachers provide high quality instruction and behavioral supports.

All students take short benchmark tests at the beginning of the year.  These tests indicate:

• Each student’s performance grade level

• Potential gaps in academic skills

Students with skill gaps are given additional instruction in small groups with other students struggling with similar problems.  Classroom management and individual student behavior is based on expectations, responsibilities, and consequences.

If a student fails to learn at a rate or level similar to his or her classmates, the teacher will:

• Change the type of instructional or behavioral strategy (intervention)

• Increase the intensity or level of the intervention (for example, adding small group instruction to whole group instruction)

• Increase the duration of the intervention (for example, increasing small group instruction from 15 minutes to 30 minutes)

• Increase the frequency of the intervention (for example, from twice a week to four times per week)

80% - 90% of all students should be successful at the Universal or Classroom Level.

When several interventions have been tried and a student still is not successful, the teacher recommends the student to a Problem Solving Team and Tier 2.

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• Tier 1 Word Document