• Tier III - Intensive Intervention

    Tier III interventions are intensive, individualized 1:1 (or very small core academic foundational skills group instruction) interventions to support students with lagging academic foundational skills, essential behavior practices, screening, individual counseling, community service and mental health referrals and care coordination, and safety and support planning. Core academic foundational skill interventions are supported by SIT and provided by an interventionist or other qualified staff member. Social emotional and behavior interventions are supported by SIT and provided in partnership with the classroom teacher and a member of staff outside of the classroom including school counselors, school social workers, Gen-ed funded school psychologists and school nurses. 

     

     

    Individual Student Support Team 

     

    When SIT determines that a student would benefit from Tier III support, a separate team comes together to create the student’s FBA/BSP (or other Tier III intervention). This team is called the Tier III Individual Student Support Team (ISST). The student and their caregiver(s) are essential members of this team as they have a broader context of the student's strengths and goals. This meeting is scheduled for an hour - outside the regularly scheduled SIT meetings.    See Individual Student Support Team (ISST) Function and Responsibilities for additional information.

     

    Individual Student Support Team (ISST) Agenda Purpose: An Individual Student Support Team (ISST) meeting is an opportunity to recognize that the school environment has not yet met the needs of the student, and therefore more information from the student, caregiver, student/caregiver identified community supports and educators is needed to craft an individualized plan of support. Additional support will not be successful without the authentic partnership between home and school. The student, caregiver and identified community support members know important aspects of the student’s experience that educators do not. The agenda outlines the flow of the meeting and the questions provided are simply a guide. Modify the questions to suit the student, family and meeting context. 

     

    ISST Meeting Tips

    • The person with the strongest relationship with the caregiver and student reaches out to the caregiver prior to the meeting to explain the purpose of the meeting and to answer any questions During the conversation:

      • Ask what school staff or other individuals the caregiver would like to include in the meeting.

      • Share what school staff plan on attending 

      • Ask family what works best for them for meeting (e.g. days/times, virtual, in person, location) 

      • Ask the family if they would like an interpreter to attend the meeting.  Submit a request for interpretation to Language Access Services. Include all the needed information including links if the meeting is remote.  Schools may use other building resources for interpretation as long as those individuals have completed annual district interpreter training and met language standards.

    • If the team decides it is in the best interest of the student not to be at the meeting, the student’s perspective should be included in this process through a trusted staff, community or family member meeting with the student to understand their perspective prior to the meeting  

    • Incorporate student strengths and cultural relevance into all parts of the conversation 

    • Modify the suggested questions to ensure they meet the student's developmental and language level 

    • Identify cultural influences in the student’s language patterns (and associated social content), and adjust your language and the language of the questions to strengthen communication  

    • Tailor the questions to address specific student needs and lagging skills  

    • Keep in mind or ask the student about their pronouns

    • Prepare visuals of the student’s progress monitoring data to share with the family 

     

    ISST Meeting Resources 

    • MTSS Module Meeting Agendas - This document include agends for various SIT and ISST meetings. 

      • Menu of Strengths Resource - This resource can be shared with ISST team members including students to assist in identifying areas of student strengths. 

      • Exclusionary Factors Worksheet - This document includes factors that must be ruled out as the primary reason for academic needs prior to determining if a student has a disability.

      • Academic Hypothesis Statements - This document is designed to be used in conjunction with the ISST/SIT process to summarize and analyze a student’s data across all tiers of support, to formulate a hypothesis of the nature of the academic needs, and assist teams with determining if a disability is suspected.  

      • Social Emotional Learning Hypothesis Statement -  This document is similar to the academic hypothesis statements but for social emotional and behavioral needs.

      • MTSS Visual - This visual can be shared with families and students to explain the MTSS process.

      • ISST CLD  Resource - This resource includes information that is essential in determining indicators of true CLD peer comparison and indicators that are inconsistent with CLD peers and may indicate a disability. 

     

    ISST Professional Learning Resource

    • Connecting SIT. ISST and Child Find - This training provides an overview of the process and intersection between the Student Intervention Team (SIT), Individual Student Support Team (ISST) and referral for Special Education evaluation planning. It is recommended that at least one general education and one special education SIT team member complete this 20 minute asynchronous training. 

     

    Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) & Behavior Support Plan (BSP)

    A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is an individualized assessment to identify:

    • Specific unexpected behavior to address 

    • Purpose/function of the behavior 

    • Factors activating and maintaining the unexpected behavior

    • Lagging skills to teach

     

    A Behavior Support Plan (BSP) includes individualized interventions based on the FBA to:

    • Proactively meet student need/function 

    • Prevent activators and responses maintaining the unexpected behavior

    • Teach replacement behavior and lagging skills

    • Reinforce the replacement and expected behavior  

     

    FBA/BSP Resources

     

    FBA/BSP Professional Learning 

    FBA / BSP Asynchronous Canvas Course - Each school should have at least 2-3 general education staff who are trained in the FBA/BSP process. Consider who will be able to serve as leads and plan managers.  All student service providers including school counselors, social workers, school psychologists and QMHPs are expected to complete this training.  The course requires approximately 5 hours to complete and is designed to be self-paced and completed in several sessions.  Student service providers should collaborate with their building administrators to identify times for the course completion. Additional participants may include, Principal or Assistant Principal, School Climate Specialist, Dean of Students, Instructional Specialist, and Restorative Justice Specialist.

     

    By enrolling in the course, you will have access to the following self-paced Units: 

    • Unit 1: Function Based Thinking

    • Unit 2: FBA Planning

    • Unit 3: FBA Assessment

    • Unit 4: BSP Planning

    • Unit 5: BSP Implementation and Evaluation

    Each session within the various modules concludes with a "Bridge to Practice" activity, which will lead your team through the creation of an FBA/BSP for a student of your choice in your school, if applicable.