ABSTRACT
The use of multiple ‘tiers’ to deliver instruction and interventions in schools is not new; the latest iteration driven by federal intention and support, Response to Intervention (RtI), is widely practiced in America’s schools (Batsche, Curtis, Dorman, Castillo, & Porter, 2007; Florida’s Positive Behavior Support Project, 2011; Gersten et al., 2009; National Association of State Directors of Special Education [NASDSE], 2006). On the surface, multi-tiered instruction means that instruction and interventions are provided to students in varying levels of intensity based on student need. Although this definition appears straightforward, in practice operationalizing it has taken many turns. For example, definitions of ‘intensity’ may vary across districts and schools, and the question of how to deliver instruction at varying levels of intensity has not achieved national, state, or local consensus; however, some agreement on how many tiers should exist in a multi-tiered system has been achieved.
