Glossary · Teaching and intervention
What is a Tier 3 reading intervention?
Definition
Tier 3 is the most intensive reading support, usually daily, in very small groups or one to one, for students with the greatest need.
Tier 3 students typically make up a small share of a school, often around 5 percent. The help is more intensive in every way: more minutes, smaller groups, more explicit teaching, and more frequent progress monitoring, often weekly.
The teaching is usually individualized from careful assessment. Many Tier 3 students need work further back in the sequence, such as phonemic awareness or short vowels, even in upper grades.
Tier 3 isn't the same as special education, though in some schools special education services are delivered at this level. A student who doesn't respond to strong Tier 3 teaching should be considered for a full evaluation, and families can ask for one at any time.
In a lesson
A fourth grader reading at a first-grade level gets 45 minutes a day, one to one, starting at silent e, with a weekly progress check graphed against an aimline.
Why does this matter for the record?
Tier 3 decisions need detailed records: every session, every skill, every score. A weekly graph with instruction changes marked is the clearest summary.
Rate each skill as you teach it
Needs support, Developing, Secure. The rating schedules the review and builds the report.