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Strong Tier I climate and culture practices create an inclusive classroom climate where all students feel welcome, wanted and worthy.
Prior to engaging with the content on this site, first, focus on enhancing Tier I practices for all students. The Classroom Climate and Culture Development Tool supports this effort.
This site outlines strategies for responsive support based on specific classroom needs.
Tier I Defined
Tier I Defined
Tier I Climate & Culture supports school wide expectations, wellness and climate of the school community, serving ALL students including racially, culturally and linguistically diverse students and students receiving Special Education services.
Tier I Climate & Culture is supported by PLCs, School Climate, and ILT and all school staff.
School/Home Connection
School/Home Connection
Creating a strong school/home connection reinforces the value we place on students' lived experience. Caregivers can proactively provide insight into the needs of students so that practices can be in place from the beginning to ensure that the setting is inviting and inclusive for all students. The conditions we create in our classrooms directly impact students' ability to fully engage in the learning community. As such, engaging caregivers in conversations about the classroom environment at the outset is a vital initial step. Students do well when they can.
Unexpected Behavior
Unexpected Behavior
Part of creating a strong Tier I is meeting the needs of individual students when unexpected behavior arises. Most unexpected behavior in our schools begins at a low level. It is vital to connect with the student's caregiver(s) as soon as there is a concern in order to gather all possible information that might help guide the way forward. Students engage in unexpected behaviors for a variety of reasons including: the student does not know or has not yet been taught the expectation, the student does not yet have the skills to meet the expectation, or the expectation may be a cultural mismatch.
If the reason for the unexpected behavior is that the student does not know, has not yet been taught or does not yet have the skills to meet the expectation, consider reteaching the skill and providing scaffolded instruction.
When the unexpected behavior is due to a misalignment between the teacher's cultural norms/expectations and the students' cultural norms/expectations, Tier I support should include refining expectations so they are culturally inclusive. You can consider the “Know Myself,” “Know the Student,” and “Know the Classroom Context” question prompts in the Cultural Lens Tool and the Tier I Classroom Climate & Culture Development Tool as guides for creating culturally inclusive classroom expectations.
Function-Based Thinking
Function-Based Thinking
Students also engage in unexpected behaviors to meet an unmet need. Clues for what need the behavior is meeting can be found in what happens right after the student engages in the unexpected behavior. Questions to ask include:
Do adults and peers provide attention, both positive or negative? If yes, the student is likely meeting a need for accessing attention/connection.
Is the student able to avoid unwanted attention from adults and peers? If yes, the student is likely meeting a need for avoiding unwanted attention.
Does the student obtain a preferred item or task? If yes, the student is likely meeting a need for accessing a task/item.
Is the student able to avoid a difficult or non-preferred task? If yes, the student is likely meeting a need for avoiding a task/item.
This site has been curated by members of the MTSS department in order to provide you with a virtual thought partner as you work to provide students in your class with targeted Tier I support. It is modeled after the PBISWorld site, and our content has been curated from theirs; modified and added to by our team. Their extensive database is rich with content, some of which has been excluded as it does not meet our asset-based, culturally responsive criteria.
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