Page 26 - Learning for All – A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12, 2013

24 • Learning for All
The Tiered Approach
The “tiered” approach to prevention and intervention is a systematic approach to providing high-quality, evidence-based assessment and instruction and appropriate interventions that respond to students’ individual needs. It is based on frequent monitoring of student progress and the use of assessment data, focusing on learning rate and level, to identify students who are facing challenges in learning and to plan specific assessment and instructional interven- tions of increasing intensity to address their needs effectively. The tiered approach can be used to address both academic and behavioural needs. The nature, intensity, and duration
of interventions may be decided by teachers individually or in collaboration with a school team, always on the basis of evidence derived from monitoring student achievement.
The tiered approach can:
• facilitate early identification of both students who may be at risk and students who may be in need of greater challenges;
• ensure appropriate and timely intervention to address these students’ needs and significantly reduce the likelihood that they will develop more intractable problems in the future.
“An extremely effective approach to assessment and intervention is the ‘tiered’ approach, which sequentially increases the intensity of instructional interventions.”
(Vaughn & Fuchs, 2003, as cited in Education for All, K–6, p. 60)
Figure 5. The Tiered Approach
(Vaughn, Linan-Thompson, & Hickman, 2003)