Tier 1 – Core curriculum instruction with differentiation

Students remain in the General Education classroom and the teacher provides scientific, research-based core curriculum. Examples of high quality tier 1 practices include curriculum aligned to TEKS or Pre-K Guidelines, Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS), differentiation and supplemental instruction/general education accommodations. Students who are struggling in Tier 1 instruction should be included in grade level PLC data discussions. These students can receive strategies which are not implemented as part of the general curriculum for all students, but are differentiated to meet their individual needs.

Differentiation

Each student brings to school different strengths, prior knowledge and experiences, home languages, interests, cultures and learning preferences. It is important to validate these differences and differentiate instruction with re-teaching opportunities, scaffolding, spiraling, or extra time to process new concepts,

Consider this analogy:

Imagine going into a department store to buy jeans and finding the same pair on every rack. No slim. No relaxed fit. Nothing for a person with long or short legs. Just the same jeans on every rack. That would be frustrating, right? True, many shoppers with a certain body type looking for a particular style would be more than happy to buy those jeans. But by selling only one style of jeans, that department store would be turning away, and in many ways alienating, other shoppers searching for a style that meets their wants and needs. Besides, it would be a ridiculous approach to selling jeans.

Differentiation is giving students options for learning and expressing what they learn. A differentiated classroom is student centered and includes whole group, small group and one on one delivery of instruction. Differentiation is not teaching different content to different students but rather presenting the same material in different ways. Some students may require the content broken down into smaller steps, while others are ready for moving beyond to a higher level of complexity.

Universal Screeners/Assessments/Data Collection

Student progress is monitored at this level through assessments and benchmarks. Progress can also be determined through the use of available computer programs, teacher observations, running records and work samples.

Example

Ms. Smith just finished a 3-day lesson and reflects on the progress and needs of her students. Throughout the lesson, she used observations and fist-to-five; at the end of day three, she had students complete an exit ticket. Because more than 80% of her students demonstrated mastery, she deduces that her instruction was effective. (If she had less than 80% of students demonstrate mastery, she would revise her lesson and complete a whole group reteach.) She considers the four students who did not demonstrate mastery: students 1 and 2 are English Learners (ELs), student 3 has been diagnosed with ADHD and student 4 usually picks up on new concepts quickly.

Students 1 & 2:

• Ms. Smith decides to add a pre-teach component to future lessons for key vocabulary words. She knows that including visuals will enhance the effectiveness of the strategy and that adding this component will assist not only the ELs in her classroom, but also her struggling readers.

Student 3:

• Ms. Smith notes that this student is already seated in the least distracting part of the room, so she commits to regular check-ins with this student during partner and individual work to offer positive encouragement and chunk the work, "Student 3, great job getting started. I will be back in five minutes to see how you did on the first part of this activity."

Student 4:

• Ms. Smith examines this student's exit ticket more carefully to determine what skill deficit or misconception is acting as a barrier to growth in this area. She then plans for an appropriate time to address her findings with the student.

Ms. Smith finishes her reflection by scheduling time to re-teach identified key elements of the lesson to the four students, keeping their individual needs in mind as she selects evidence-based materials and resources to support their mastery.