Tier 1: Universal Supports
The Foundation of an Integrated MTSS System 

Tier 1 is the universal foundation of an integrated Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). It includes the high-quality instruction, environments, relationships, routines, and supports intentionally designed for and accessible to all students.

Strong Tier 1 systems are proactive, preventative, evidence-based, culturally responsive-sustaining, and data-informed. They support the whole child by integrating academic instruction, social and emotional learning, behavior, attendance and engagement, physical and mental well-being, and family and community partnership.

Within Tier 1, educators continually use multiple sources of data to understand student strengths and needs, examine the effectiveness of universal practices, identify barriers to access and participation, and make responsive adjustments.

Tier 1 is not simply what happens before Tier 2.

Tier 1 is the foundation students continue to access across all levels of support.

What Makes Tier 1 Universal?

For All

All students have meaningful access to strong universal instruction, environments, relationships, and supports.

Proactive & Preventative

Systems are intentionally designed to increase success and identify barriers early rather than waiting for significant difficulty.

Evidence-Based & Standards-Aligned

Instruction and practices are grounded in evidence and aligned with grade-level learning expectations.

Culturally Responsive-Sustaining

Student identity, language, culture, strengths, experiences, and ways of knowing are recognized as assets.

Accessible & Inclusive

Universal systems anticipate learner variability and reduce unnecessary barriers to participation and learning.

Data-Informed & Responsive

Multiple sources of evidence are used to understand student response and continually improve instruction, environments, and supports.

Integrated

Academic, behavioral, social-emotional, attendance, health, mental-health, family, and community supports function as parts of one coherent system.

Explore Tier 1

🔎 Data-Based Decision-Making

A collaborative process for using multiple sources of data to examine student response, understand strengths and needs, evaluate Tier 1, and determine when supplemental support may be warranted.

When Is Supplemental Support Needed? 

Tier 1 Data Tell Us About Students and Systems

Data within MTSS serve two important purposes:

Student-Level Question
What strengths and needs does this student demonstrate, and what support may be needed?

Systems-Level Question
What do patterns across students tell us about the strength, accessibility, implementation, and effectiveness of Tier 1?

When patterns emerge across students, classrooms, grade levels, groups, or settings, examine the system before assuming each student independently needs intervention. 

New York State Alignment

This Tier 1 framework is designed to support implementation of New York State's Integrated Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS-I) and related state initiatives emphasizing rigorous learning, culturally responsive-sustaining education, whole-child development, equity, belonging, and continuous improvement.

Tier 1 provides the universal foundation upon which increasingly targeted and intensive supports are layered while maintaining student access to strong core instruction and environments.

Tier 1 Is the Foundation—not the Waiting Room

Tier 1 is not where students remain until they “qualify” for something more. It is the universal foundation intentionally designed to promote success, identify barriers early, and respond to learner variability.

When students require additional support, Tier 2 and Tier 3 are layered onto—not substituted for—strong Tier 1 instruction, relationships, environments, and supports.

The goal of MTSS is not to move students through tiers.

The goal is to ensure every student receives the right support, at the right intensity, at the right time.