Tier 2 Overview
At Tier 2, students who demonstrate some behavioral/social-emotional risk are supported with evidence-based interventions. Tier 2 interventions are consistent and implemented in a standardized way across students. These interventions should be easily accessible (in other words, provided to the students within a few days of being identified as in need of an intervention) and continuously available to students when needed.
All school staff implement behavioral and social-emotional interventions, and these interventions are provided in addition to Tier 1. In other words, behavior is continuously taught to all students, and students at some risk receive “extra doses” of behavioral instruction. To that end, interventions should be consistent with school-wide behavioral expectations. It is important that the interventions be function-informed; for example, if a student is acting out because s/he is seeking adult attention, then that intervention should match the function of that student’s behavior, enabling the student to obtain adult attention by doing the right thing.
Learn More About Tier 2
If you're interested in improving your school's implementation of Tier 2, be sure to check out BRIDGE-RI's strand of courses devoted to this topic. Beginning with the Tier 2 Overview course, you'll learn more about the practices, data, and systems needed to support an effective Tier 2. See all current Tier 2 course offerings. Please note that you must have an account with BRIDGE-RI to enroll in courses. Sign up today - it's free and easy!
Use of Data
At Tier 2, data is used continuously to make decisions about both student response to the intervention, as well as effectiveness of the intervention. Before implementing the intervention, decision rules about entry into and exit out of the intervention are established. Screening data is used as one criteria for entry into a Tier 2 intervention, but keep in mind more than one data point should be used. Students receiving the intervention should be progress monitored frequently to determine whether or the not the student is responding to the intervention. Student progress should be graphed and analyzed to see if the student is on track to meeting the goal or closing the gap. Individual student progress should also be compared to that of their peers in the intervention. Are most students on track to meeting their goals? Or are most students not making progress? The answers to these questions will give you information about effectiveness of the intervention as it’s been implemented.