Jennie Sjursen 0:00
I just had a meeting with my child's school, he was really struggling with reading. And they told me they're going to move him into tier two. They explained it to me, but I'm not really sure what that means.
I'm Jenny Sjursen. X special educator turned dyslexia interventionist. It wasn't so long ago, that I too, was overwhelmed by balance literacy versus structured literacy, education speak, and everything in between. Fast forward after many, many hours of self driven education. And you'll see I've built a thriving dyslexia practice helping students from ages six to 18. My specialties, working with quote unquote difficult almost always to the student, and breaking down the complexities of dyslexic to everyday language strategies and action steps.
I have a parent contact me recently with this exact scenario. She left the meeting at the school feeling a little confused and like a lot of the information was going over her head. It sounded to me that a lot of what I call edgy speak was being used during the meeting. What's edgy speak, as you speak, is all of those and acronyms that are used in education like RTI, IP, LRE, and ESI. And I find there used Fast and Furious during meetings with the school. And not only that, much to my dismay, different schools or school systems is different than acronyms. When I moved from Kennedy Krieger at Southern High School to Baltimore County Public Schools, I found my head spinning during our first team meeting. They were using all of these in acronyms I had never heard before, and I was working in education. I encountered it again when I moved to Florida. In Florida Special Education is ESC or exceptional student education. In Maryland, it's bedded, as you speak, a language used in special education with its own original dialect.
But back to the question, what is tier two? Tier Two is part of a teaching approach and framework used to identify and help struggling students. The approach is commonly known as response to intervention or RTI. There are three levels of intervention in RTI, tier one, tier two, and tier three. Picture a triangle, now divide it into three sections from top to bottom. The bottom and broadest section is tier one. The middle section is tier two, and the top and smallest section is tier three.
Tier one is general education. All students in a gen ed class are being educated at the tier one level. In tier one students can work in small groups and work is given at their skill level, but not necessarily individualized. Their progress is monitored and tracked. If a student is found to be struggling, they can move into tier two.
Tier Two is for students who aren't making progress or are struggling in tier one. These students are identified through universal screenings, teacher observations, and classwork. Tier Two students will usually receive small group interventions. The small group lessons take place two to three times a week. It can also mean more individualized or special teaching. The teacher performs progress Miring checks every one to two weeks.
Students in tier two are still part of the tier one gen ed class and still take part in the gen ed lessons and tasks. If the progress monitoring shows a student made progress, they can return to tier one. If the student is still struggling, they might stay in tier two or be moved up to tier three. tier three is the most intensive level of support and interventions, and many school systems. But not all. tier three is synonymous with special education. A student only has to be quote at risk to receive tier three interventions. But to be in special education they need to be identified and qualified.
Tier three can mean the student takes part in small group instruction, individual instruction, or a combination of both. Students in tier three still spend the majority of their time in the gen ed classroom, but portions of their day will most likely be spent in a resource or special education room. The students progress is frequently monitored with the overall goal of sufficient progress being made so the student can move back out of tier three.
Depending on the state you live in your public school may be required to use the RTI framework, but it is not a federal requirement. Schools set their own RTI policies. They have to let you know your child is participating in RTI. But beyond that, there are no general requirements. RtI is also not a replacement for special ed
Question, but the data collected during the RTI process can help determine whether or not your child is eligible for special education services. RtI cannot be used as an excuse to delay or deny special education services. A school can't deny or delay an evaluation request just because a child is receiving extra help or interventions through the RTI process.
RTS are generally not a written plan, it does not have the same standing or weight as an IEP. If your child isn't making adequate or meaningful progress with RTI. Your next step is to ask the school for a comprehensive evaluation. So, how does dyslexia fit into all of this, many states now require schools to perform universal screenings for reading of all students K through two. The scores on these screenings help schools identify students who need strategic or intensive support. This by no means identify as a student with dyslexia for special education. The screeners flag them as a student who needs more support while learning to read. Based on the scores, especially if they fell in the strategic support range, a child may be moved into tier two small group work. This is usually small group work done at a table in a corner of the room. The students in the group work on foundational reading skills, they may need more time and repetition with a skill for the gen ed group at large.
If a child screener scores fell in the intensive support range, or they were not making progress in tier two, a child can be placed into tier three. This is where you may begin to see some well known reading intervention programs like Wilson, a child does not need to be in special education to receive more intensive interventions like Wilson.
RtI is often the first step towards receiving special education services and reading, your child should never be stuck in never ending RTI. RtI should only last eight to 12 weeks. By the end of those eight to 12 weeks, enough data will have been collected to see if the intervention has been effective, or If changes need to be made. Or if the special education identification process needs to be started. RtI is a tool, not an end all be all. And that is RTI in tiers one through three in a nutshell, or in this case, a triangle. If you have any further questions about dyslexia, please feel free to sneak into my inbox. I'd also love your input. What would you like to hear from me in the future? Is there a topic I haven't covered yet? You really want to know more about or do you have a pressing need and you're not really sure how to handle it or move forward? Send me a DM on Instagram or drop me an email at Jenny at literacy untangle.com That's je n n i e at literacy untangled.com I can't wait to hear from you. Until next time, bye bye.
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