Tier 3 Special Education Interventions: Intensive Support for Student Success

Prioritizing success for every student is essential as we learn how to better educate future generations. The Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework is increasingly used nationwide to describe a system that encompasses supports for the whole child, including academics, behavior, mental health, and wellness. MTSS seeks to support the academic, behavioral, mental health, and wellness of all learners by taking a whole-child approach. When MTSS is implemented effectively, it can provide students with the supports needed to progress towards academic and non-academic goals.

Understanding MTSS and Tiered Support

MTSS is an integrated framework for the systemic alignment of evidence-based prevention and intervention practices to support all the needs of all students. The idea of MTSS is to help all students be successful. Federal law directs schools to focus on helping all children learn by addressing problems early. Supports in an MTSS framework flow from universal, to targeted, to intensive. MTSS provides varying levels of support, or tiers, based on student need, which increase as a student moves from universal to targeted and intensive interventions. The tiers are distinct but, as part of a system, share common components. A key component across all tiers is the use of evidence-based practices. These instructional techniques are supported by high-quality research demonstrating meaningful effects on student outcomes.

All tiers also use reliable and valid assessments. Screening is used in the universal tier, diagnostic assessments (to intensify and customize interventions) are always used in the intensive tier (and sometimes in other tiers), and progress monitoring is used in all tiers. Data from these assessments are collected and analyzed by a problem-solving or student support team to evaluate student response and make informed data-based decisions. Interventions provided to a student are continually adjusted based on data until the child is progressing adequately.

While MTSS is a framework that supports the prevention and early identification of students with difficulties, including students with or at-risk for a disability, MTSS may not be used to delay or deny an evaluation of a child suspected of having a disability and need for special education. Students suspected of having a disability and needing special education must be referred for a full and individual evaluation under the IDEA. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has clarified these expectations. Referral for evaluation and interventions may need to occur simultaneously.

IDEA specifies that criteria adopted by a state for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability (SLD) must not require the use of severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement; must permit the use of a process based on the child’s response to scientific, research-based intervention; and may permit the use of other alternative research-based procedures. In Texas, a student must either demonstrate an insufficient response to scientific, research-based intervention (RTI) or exhibit a pattern of strengths and weaknesses (PSW) as one of the components considered to determine whether the child meets the eligibility criteria of SLD. Intervention response is a critical component found within an MTSS framework. This data is important for consideration in the identification of specific learning disabilities.

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Texas Education Code (TEC), Section 26.0081 requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide parents of children not receiving special education with notice whenever their child begins to receive intervention strategies. Intervention strategy for the purposes of this requirement means a strategy in an MTSS that is above the level of intervention generally used in that system with all children. The term includes response to intervention (RTI) and other early intervening strategies. This parental notice must contain specific requirements as outlined in TEC §26.0081(d). Please note that the notice must be written in English or to the extent practicable, the parent’s native language. TEA created a sample notification template that LEAs can use to meet statutory requirements.

In addition to providing parental notification, each school district and open-enrollment charter school must annually report through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) the total number of students enrolled in the district or charter school with whom the district or school, as applicable, used intervention strategies at any time during the year for which the report is made. This requirement, described at TEC §48.009(b)(4), does allow the exclusion of this reporting if the student is receiving aids, accommodations, and services under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973. TEA developed a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) and answers document to assist LEAs and parents in understanding more about intervention strategies, parental notification, and student records.

A school may choose to fund a campus intervention program, including MTSS, using Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) funds. CEIS funds may be used to provide services to students who are not currently identified as needing special education or related services. These students need additional academic or non-academic support to succeed in the general education program in kindergarten through grade 12 (with emphasis on students in kindergarten through grade 3).

Diving into Tier 3 Interventions

Tier 3 MTSS interventions provide the most intensive level of support for students. This level of intervention is designed for students who need more individualized and often intensive support that reaches beyond the general education curriculum. Students at this tier receive highly focused one-on-one (or very small group) attention. Often, districts conduct a data-driven screening process to identify these students and continue ongoing progress monitoring from that point. Once identified, a more comprehensive data analysis can be used to determine what type of interventions and supports are needed to meet student needs and promote better behavioral and academic outcomes.

Key Characteristics of Tier 3 Interventions

Individualization: At the heart of Tier 3 interventions is individualization.
Intensity: Interventions at this level are more intense than at previous tiers.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Continuous progress monitoring and data collection are crucial in Tier 3.
Collaboration: Successful Tier 3 interventions rely on a collaborative approach involving staff, parents, families, students, leadership, and other stakeholders.

Types of Tier 3 Interventions

Tier 3 interventions may include various strategies depending on the student’s specific needs.

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Academic Interventions: These may involve specialized instruction in reading, mathematics, or writing. A secondary student is assigned a reading intervention class that targets the specific skills the student needs for reading comprehension and vocabulary. The class size is very small to allow for individual assistance and practice. An elementary student meets with their teacher briefly before each math block, so that the teacher can pre-teach any new concepts introduced to the class that day. The teacher briefly reviews any skills the student will need to utilize, reminds the student of any relevant prior knowledge, and generally checks to ensure the student is equipped to take on the new concept.
Social-Emotional Interventions: For students with significant social or emotional difficulties, interventions like counseling or social skills training can be critical. An elementary student with aggressive behavior is paired with a behavior interventionist to learn appropriate behavior skills. Teachers provide positive and corrective feedback on specific behaviors throughout the day.
Attendance Interventions: A secondary student with chronic absenteeism is placed on a special bus route due to their homeless status. An attendance liaison provides a daily morning call to ensure the student is ready for school.

The Role of Progress Monitoring

Regularly assessing students (whether it be for academic or behavior needs) helps educators determine if adjustments need to be made to the plan and guides the selection of appropriate research-based strategies that target the identified needs. An effective progress monitoring process includes setting specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (SMART) goals. The best way to determine whether a student is making progress toward the desired goals in MTSS is to collect ongoing progress monitoring data along with information about the implementation fidelity of the intervention plan itself.

Tier 3 Behavior Intervention and PBIS

For schools using PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) to impact school climate and culture, Tier 3 supports often center around behavioral challenges. Tier 3 behavior intervention supports are individualized supports and serve up to 5% of the student population within a school. Often, these students exhibit highly disruptive or dangerous behaviors and need more intensive support.

Identifying Students for Tier 3 Behavior Support

Identifying a student who will benefit from Tier 3 supports includes conducting a functional behavior assessment (FBA) to assess the cause(s) of behavior. The findings from the FBA allow for the creation of a behavior intervention plan (BIP), in which the student receives targeted, intensive support.

Integrating PBIS with Tier 3

It’s important to note that Tier 1 behavior intervention and Tier 2 behavior intervention supports still apply for students receiving Tier 3 interventions. In fact, Tier 3 supports are based on the foundational behaviors found in the schoolwide matrix, the same as Tiers 1 and 2. Once students have been identified for Tier 3, the school assigns them staff members experienced in providing formal behavior support. Because of the individualized nature of these supports, each Tier 3 student will receive support tailored to their needs.

Given the individualized nature of Tier 3 supports, one might conclude that a PBIS initiative excludes Tier 3 students. While it’s true that up to 85% of students in PBIS remain in Tier 1, PBIS serves the behavioral needs of ALL students.

Key Practices in Tier 3 Behavior Support

Tier 3 practices start with strong Tier 1 and Tier 2 foundations. In addition to these practices, the key practices involved in Tier 3 supports are:

Function-based Assessments: Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is the formal process for ensuring a student’s plan centers on why a student behaves the way they do. FBA allows teams to identify which interventions are most likely to be useful for an individual student. Plans resulting from a formal FBA process will include strategies for:
- Preventing unwanted behavior
- Teaching appropriate behavior
- Positively reinforcing appropriate behavior
- Reducing rewards for unwanted behavior
- Ensuring student safety
Wraparound: Wraparound differs from many service delivery strategies, in that it provides a comprehensive, holistic, youth and family-driven way of responding when children or youth experience serious mental health or behavioral challenges. Wraparound puts the child or youth and family at the center of the process to develop a support plan. With support from a team of professionals and natural supports, the family’s ideas and perspectives about what they need and what will be helpful drive all of the work in Wraparound.
Person-Centered Planning: Person-Centered Planning (PCP) is a way for diverse people, who share a common need, to align:
- Their vision, purposes, and goals
- Their understanding of the student’s past, present, and future life
- Their actions for change, mutual support, personal and team development, and learning.

Tier 3 Teams: Leadership and Student Support

There are two types of teams associated with Tier 3 supports: the Tier 3 leadership team and individual student support teams.

Tier 3 Leadership Team

Tier 3 teams won’t look the same in every school. Whether you have one team looking at Tier 3 specifically, or one team monitoring Tier 2 and 3 systems together, this leadership team meets regularly to be sure:

Students who need additional support have access to those systems
Students who receive Tier 3 supports are successful

Tier 3 leadership teams are led by someone with applied behavior expertise, administrative authority, multi-agency support experience, knowledge of students, and knowledge about how the school operates across grade levels and programs.

Tier 3 Student Support Team

In addition to a team committed to monitoring Tier 3 systems, there must be a problem-solving team for each student receiving Tier 3 supports. These teams meet regularly to design and refine strategies specific to one student. The team’s goal is always to transition a student to fewer intensive supports.

Tier 3 student support teams typically include people from the student’s school, home, and community. Students and their families input and approval on who is on the team. The school’s administrator must have enough involvement to allocate resources as needed for a student’s plan.

Structured Literacy and Tier 3 Reading Interventions

A structured literacy tier 3 intervention is like an expert personal trainer for reading. It’s a highly individualized, one-on-one or very small group approach for students who need the most intensive support.

Understanding Structured Literacy

Think of Structured Literacy as a roadmap for teaching reading-one that is incredibly clear, logical, and designed to work for every student. At its heart, Structured Literacy is an instructional approach that is explicit, systematic, and multisensory. “Explicit” means we teach students directly and clearly, leaving no room for guessing. “Systematic” means we introduce concepts in a specific, logical order, with each new skill building on the last. And “multisensory” means we engage multiple senses, like sight, sound, and touch, to help cement learning.

A Structured Literacy approach is built on several key components that work together to create strong, confident readers. These are the essential building blocks of literacy, grounded in decades of research known as the Science of Reading. We start with phonological awareness, teaching students to hear and play with the sounds in language. Then comes phonics, where we explicitly connect those sounds to letters. From there, we build vocabulary, expand reading fluency so that reading becomes smooth and automatic, and finally, develop deep reading comprehension. Each piece is taught methodically, ensuring students master one skill before moving to the next.

Key Elements of Effective Tier 3 Reading Interventions

Systematic and Explicit Instruction: The most effective interventions are both systematic and explicit. Systematic instruction means lessons are presented in a logical, sequential order. Skills build on one another, moving from simple to complex, so there are no gaps in a student’s understanding. Explicit instruction means the teacher clearly explains and models every concept. There’s no guesswork for the student.
Immediate and Corrective Feedback: In a Tier 3 setting, feedback is your best friend. When a student makes a mistake, it’s important to provide immediate and corrective feedback in a supportive way.
Frequent Review: For skills to stick, students need to practice them over and over again. Effective Tier 3 interventions intentionally build frequent review into every session.
Scaffolding: Scaffolding is the process of providing temporary support to help a student achieve a learning goal.
Multisensory Approach: Many struggling readers, especially those with dyslexia, learn best when information is presented through multiple senses. A multisensory approach engages sight, sound, touch, and even movement to help cement learning.

Assessment and Progress Monitoring in Tier 3 Reading

Once you’ve established a strong Tier 3 intervention framework, your focus shifts to making sure it’s working for each student. This is where assessment and progress monitoring become your most powerful tools. It’s a continuous cycle of teaching, assessing, and refining your approach based on what the student’s performance tells you.

In Tier 3, progress monitoring happens more frequently and with greater precision than in other tiers. The goal is to regularly check student progress to see if the intervention is working. This isn’t about waiting for a report card; it’s about collecting data weekly, or even multiple times a week, on the specific skills you’re teaching.

Challenges and Solutions in Tier 3 Implementation

While Tier 3 interventions are essential for addressing significant student needs, they come with their own set of challenges. These can include resource limitations, the need for staff with specialized knowledge and skills, and the time required for intensive interventions.

Common Challenges

Lack of Clear Understanding: A common roadblock is moving forward without a clear picture of the student’s specific struggles, such as those associated with dyslexia.
Insufficient Teacher Training: On the educator side, challenges can include insufficient teacher training, a lack of resources, and inconsistent support across a school or district.
Limited Resources: Resources are often limited.

Strategies for Success

Early Identification: One of the most powerful strategies for Tier 3 is early identification.
Qualified Teachers: Another key to success is ensuring that your most intensive interventions are delivered by highly qualified and experienced teachers.
Team-Based Approach: To make Tier 3 sustainable, a structured, team-based approach is crucial.
Data-Driven Planning: A data-driven plan helps allocate resources effectively by tailoring support to each student’s specific learning needs.
Comprehensive Curriculum: Using a comprehensive, scripted curriculum can also be a huge help.

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