Literacy (Tier 1, K-12)

Universal Tier 1 literacy instruction should benefit all learners, including learners with disabilities.  At the elementary level, it integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing and emphasizes language structure.  Class-wide reading instruction includes lessons in phonology (speech-sound system), sound/symbol associations, orthography (writing structure), syntax (structure of sentences), morphology (meaningful parts in words), and semantics (meanings of words, phrases, sentences in text).  Mechanisms are in place to support teachers as they prioritize curriculum resources to teach the structure of language using a combination of whole-group and small-group instruction.  Sufficient time is dedicated to teaching learners to be skillful readers across disciplines.  Tier 1 instruction includes ongoing use of assessment data to inform instruction and help identify learners needing additional reading intervention support.  For tier 1 instruction to serve all students, it must also align with intervention supports.  Students must have the opportunity to continue practicing and generalizing the strategies and skills they are learning during intervention instruction in their tier 1 classroom instruction.

Secondary tier 1 literacy instruction integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing across core subject areas.  Core subject-area teachers (ELA, math, science, social studies) meaningfully incorporate relevant discipline-specific text into daily lessons (e.g., different ELA genres and informational texts for social studies and science).  Evidence-based instructional strategies support students’ ongoing development of comprehension processes to actively construct meaning from text and establish a mental model of disciplinary concepts.  Tier 1 instruction includes the ongoing use of formative data to inform instruction and help identify learners needing additional reading intervention support at the secondary level.  Consistent with elementary literacy instruction, for Tier 1 instruction to serve all students, it must also align with Tier 2 and 3 intervention supports.  Students must be able to continue practicing and generalizing the strategies and skills they are learning during intervention instruction in their classes.

Roles

Roles

School Leadership Team 

A group of individuals who ensure sustainable systems and structures are in place to facilitate effective and efficient reading instruction for all learners.  These systems and structures include achievement and fidelity assessments, allocated time for instruction, materials and resources, targeted professional development, coaching, feedback and support systems, and data-based problem-solving processes.  The school leadership team coordinates these efforts with other school-wide priorities.

Tier One Literacy Systems Coach

The Tier One Literacy Systems Coach works with the School Leadership Team (SLT) to support the implementation of the Tier One literacy components of an MTSS framework.  The systems coach leads and facilitates SLT meetings and helps coordinate the work of this team with other school and district teams.  This individual supports tasks such as fostering team leadership and functionality, identifying instructional practices to support tier-one literacy instruction, analysis and management of data, determining needs of professional development for staff, and communication among other interested parties. 

Tier One Literacy Instructional Coach

The tier one literacy instructional coach focuses on supporting all staff with implementing curriculum resources, instructional practices, and assessments that are evidence-based and aligned with reading science.  

Multidisciplinary Team

The Multidisciplinary Team is comprised of a group of individuals who consistently participate in 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).

For more information, check out the Advanced Tiers page 

Data Tools

Data Tools

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 “Literacy” topic area category.