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Tier 2

Tier 2:  Intervention coupled with ongoing progress monitoring provided to students needing additional acceleration or enrichment in academics and behaviors.

Tier 2 academic interventions are provided in addition to core instruction. Interventions are typically provided by classroom or intervention teachers.  Tier 2 behavioral (PBIS) interventions are typically provided by but not limited to school support staff including; School Psychologists, School Social Workers and/or School Guidance Counselors. The goal is to have no more than 15% of students needing tier 2 supports in academics and/or behavior at any given time.  Parents and community partners receive training on tiered interventions and participate in various academic and behavioral support groups.

Movement between Tier 1 and Tier 2 is fluid and flexible. Adequate time should be given for the Tier 1 instructional program to be implemented before determining Tier 2 supported is needed. The structure of Tier 2 is designed to provide efficient and effective systems for school staff members to provide appropriate academic and/or positive behavioral interventions to students who need additional assistance.

All students who need Tier 2 interventions will be identified through the universal screening and formative assessment decision-making process conducted by the Tier 1 team meetings.  Targeted students participate in explicit interventions which are in addition to the learning they receive during core instruction.  A standardized decision-making process is used for identifying and providing research-based interventions, based on need and resources.

All students receiving Tier 2 or Tier 3 interventions for Behavior or Academics will be entered into EXCEED®RtI for progress monitoring purposes.  EXCEED®RtI is an online computer software available throughout the district to all staff members (available on the APPS page).  This software allows teachers to view basic student information, student progress, and additional historical data that might be helpful in determining the academic and behavioral needs of students in relation to RtI.  EXCEED®RtI pulls in student data directly from other data systems eliminating the need to duplicate data entry and ensures the accuracy of these data.  Teachers use the EXCEED®RtI software to develop intervention plans for students, record progress monitoring data connected to the intervention plans, and assess the success of the intervention plan in real time. Based on the intervention data entered into EXCEED®RtI, teachers are able to analyze the degree to which students are progressing and make adjustments to the intervention plans as needed.

Structure of RtI Tier 2 Team Meeting/s

Tier 2/Secondary Team Structure

At the Tier 2/Secondary level, the Tier 2 team has two distinct tasks: 1) To oversee and monitor the systems of support for Tier 2 and, 2) To oversee the Secondary/Tier 2 academic and behavioral interventions being provided to students who need additional support. It is recommended that the team hold separate meetings when discussing systems of support versus analyzing data in decision making for students receiving interventions.  The Tier 2/Secondary team may also have the following responsibilities:

  • Identify groups for the 5% to 15% of students who are at risk for academic or behavioral problems
  • Coordinates and shares information with the school’s Learning Team
  • Uses data to proactively determine which students need additional academic and/or behavioral support.
  • Identifies staff skilled in conducting brief functional assessments.
  • Design positive behavioral interventions and supports for small groups of students and/or specific classroom settings needing additional assistance.
  • Consults with and provides ongoing support for school staff who have a student/s with academic and/or behavior interventions.
  • Shares intervention outcomes and provides ongoing support for student, teacher and family.
  • Coordinates school and community services for groups of at risk students.

The Tier 2/Secondary Team may include the following members:

  1. Regular education classroom teacher (required)
  2. Special Education teacher/s (optional)
  3. Principal/school leader or the administrator in charge of discipline (optional)
  4. Support staff (optional)
    • Counselor, psychologist, social worker, literacy coach, mathematics teacher leader, implementer, learning coordinator librarian, etc.
  6. Paraprofessional, custodian, secretary or safety assistant (optional)

Tier 2/Secondary Team may support and/or progress monitor those students who have been identified for Tier 2 interventions. The team will monitor the fidelity of implementation of the systems to determine whether or not it is a system issue or whether students may need additional interventions.