Tier 2 Interventions

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Implementing Tier 2 Interventions

As a special education teacher, I have a lot of opinions about Tier 2 interventions. BUT the biggest opinion is that we have to provide them - with fidelity! 

One reason I feel so strongly is that I've had K-2 students referred for evaluation and they have qualified, but then at their next re-eval, they no longer qualify. Or, after a year or 2 after initial evaluation, a small group pull-out setting is no longer their least restrictive environment. Then, I become more of a consult case manager, checking in with their general education teacher, who is providing most of the intervention. In this case, I am so glad they got extra support (especially in the case of a student with Developmental Delay eligibility), but I wonder if Tier 2 interventions had been provided with fidelity and data had been tracked over time if the student would have qualified for special education services in the first place.

*CAVEAT*: Of course, if a student has a suspected disability, they should always be referred for a special education evaluation. But sometimes, there are other factors like vision, attendance, or lack of quality instruction that should be addressed as a contributing factor for a student not showing growth.

Students grow at their own pace. Sometimes, I think an extra Tier 2 intervention boost could be enough to get a student to grade level. Additionally, for some teachers (new OR veteran!), the process of implementing interventions with fidelity and then tracking that data over time to see if interventions are working is overwhelming. They have so many other responsibilities!

Also, sometimes, I think we ask, "Which Tier 2 interventions are you implementing?", and it can feel like a gotcha. 

That's why I created a "cheat Google sheet" and accompanying checklist for gen ed teachers.

The process is on the first tab:



Then, there are very specific interventions based on student area of concern (academic, behavior, attendance) that the teacher can try. 

Academic:


Behavior:


Attendance: 



Then, after reviewing these tabs with explanations and photos of the interventions, there's a checklist a teacher can (easily) use to say "Here are the strategies I used" when the multidisciplinary team meets to talk about the student and discuss concerns.


Feedback I've gotten from general education teachers is that this makes the process of implementing interventions more manageable.

If you have suggestions of additional Tier 2 interventions I could add to my checklist, please let me know!


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