Advanced Tiers

The Advanced Tiers represent increasingly intensive instructional and/or behavioral supports for learners who have not yet made grade-level expectations, with distinctions between Tiers 2 and 3. Tier 2 intervention intensity is defined as interventionists delivering intervention using evidence-based curriculum resources and/or strategies with more frequent progress monitoring. These progress-monitoring data are used, along with fidelity data, to determine if learners are responding to the intervention as expected. If learners are not responding to the intervention instruction as expected, and such factors as student attendance and intervention fidelity have been ruled out as possible causes, the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) plans for Tier 3 intervention support. Intensification can happen at the group or individual student level.

Tier 3 is the most intensive level of intervention for general and special education students. It is more individualized, meaning progress-monitoring data are further analyzed to identify the possible reason(s) why the Tier 2 intervention instruction was ineffective. Additional diagnostic data may be collected to help determine the right next step(s) to intensify the intervention instruction. Tier 3 intervention supports continue to utilize evidence-based curriculum resources. Usually, these are the same curriculum resources used during Tier 2 instruction, but with key distinctions. The main distinction is the individualization of the instruction. The Multidisciplinary Team works with the learner, their family/caregivers, and other adults in their lives to create an individualized intensive intervention plan. This plan outlines how the intervention instruction will be adapted to increase dimensions such as behavioral supports, comprehensiveness (explicitness) of the intervention instruction, and helping learners transfer (generalize) what they are learning during the intervention lessons to other contexts or settings. An individualized progress-monitoring plan ensures alignment between the intervention instruction and the progress-monitoring measures. Fidelity in Tier 3 is focused on adhering to the components outlined in the individualized intensive intervention plan. Data are analyzed to determine how the learner responds to the intervention instruction, and when needed, the plan is adjusted to further intensify the support (St. Martin, Harms, Walsh, & Nantais, 2023). Access the Intensifying Literacy Instruction Essential Practices (Version 2.0; June 2023) for more information about the work at the advanced tiers. 

Roles

Roles

Multidisciplinary Team (MDT)

A group of individuals who consistently participate on the team responsible for overseeing intervention access and effectiveness. Team members typically include the school principal and staff with the highest reading, assessment, and behavioral expertise (e.g., reading specialist, school psychologist, teacher consultant, behavior interventionist). This team is not synonymous with the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team as defined by IDEA (2014).

Multidisciplinary Team Systems Coach

The MDT Systems Coach works with the school Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) to oversee the implementation of a comprehensive intervention system (e.g., fosters team leadership, intervention placement, student assessment, effective support for interventionists, and decisions for when/how to intensify intervention instruction). The MDT systems coach leads and facilitates MDT meetings and helps coordinate the work of this team with other school and district teams. This person works to develop the skills and processes necessary within the school for intensifying intervention instruction.

Intervention/Instructional Coach

The instructional coach ensures that staff delivering intervention instruction receive ongoing training from individuals with the appropriate credentials/experience in the intervention curriculum resources. They also ensure they have all the intervention materials to deliver intervention instruction as intended and are provided quality coaching. The intervention instructional coach may provide the most intensive level of coaching support to interventionists teaching students with the most significant needs and consult with grade-level teams to understand how to incorporate intervention strategies into Tier 1 instruction so students can generalize the strategies to the classroom setting.

Intensification Supports

Intensification Supports

The Taxonomy of Intervention Intensity (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Malone, 2017) is used to select or evaluate the validated intervention platform. The dimensions of Taxonomy are:

  • Strength: evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention for students with intensive needs
  • Behavioral or academic support: whether an academic intervention incorporates behavioral strategies that may support students with self-regulation, motivation, or externalizing behaviors that may impact their ability to learn or whether a behavioral intervention considers academic components as part of the intervention;
  • Comprehensiveness: how well the intervention incorporates a comprehensive array of explicit instruction principles;
  • Attention to transfer: whether the intervention is explicitly designed to help students make connections between the skills taught in the intervention and skills learned in other contexts and environments; 
  • Alignment: how well the intervention matches the targeted academic skills or behaviors of concern, as well as incorporates grade-appropriate standards or behaviors we would expect for a particular context;
  • Dosage: the number of opportunities the student has to respond and receive feedback from the instructor; 
  • Individualization: focuses on ongoing progress monitoring data and other diagnostic data sources to intensify and individualize the intervention based on student needs.

 

For more information about the Taxonomy of Intervention Intensity, check out the Taxonomy of Intervention Intensify Overview Handout from the National Center on Intensive Intervention.

 

Intervention Intensification Strategy Checklists are designed to provide multidisciplinary teams with ideas to consider when determining how to apply the dimensions of the taxonomy of intervention intensity to specific intervention programs. These are not meant to be an exhaustive list but rather a starting point for teams. Before intensifying an intervention, always consider whether the current intervention program has been implemented with fidelity and for sufficient time. 

 

ECRI Into Reading Intensification Checklist

ECRI Wonders Intensification Checklist 

Phonics for Reading Intensification Checklist

Reading Mastery Intensification Checklist

REWARDS Intermediate Intensification Checklist

REWARDS Secondary Intensification Checklist

UFLI Foundations Intensification Checklist

 

Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., & Malone A. S. (2017). The taxonomy of intervention intensity. Teaching Exceptional Children, 50(1), 35–43.

Data Tools

Data Tools

Schoolwide PBIS Tiered Fidelity Inventory

The SWPBIS TFI (https://www.pbis.org/resource/tfi) was developed as a single fidelity measure that can assess the implementation of SWPBIS at all three tiers and support action planning to improve implementation efforts. This tool can support teams in monitoring the implementation of PBIS or SEB supports.

Check out the SWPBIS TFI page for information on how to get started using the SWPBIS TFI.

Reading Tiered Fidelity Inventory

The Reading Tiered Fidelity Inventory (R-TFI) provides schools with a school-level fidelity tool to assess the reading components of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. The R-TFI is divided into two sections: Universal Tier 1 and Advanced Tiers (Tiers 2 and 3). The R-TFI is completed by the School Leadership Team and, for the Advanced Tiers, members of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT). 

Check out the R-TFI page for more information on how to get started using the R-TFI.

What We Offer

What We Offer

To learn more about professional learning offerings, check out the professional learning page. You can search the “Advanced Tiers” category.