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Three Tier Intervention Model for School Counselors

5/22/2017

26 Comments

 
School counselors work with all students and provide a variety of services. As more schools are aligning their efforts to the MTSS (multi-tiered system of support) model, it's important for counselors to be able to share how their work aligns with the school's system of support.
School counselors work with all students and provide a variety of services. As more schools are aligning their efforts to the MTSS (multi-tiered system of support) model, it's important for counselors to be able to share how their work aligns with the school's system of support. 

Tier 1

In Tier 1, or core instruction, counselors support social emotional learning and academic skills via the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors. Tier 1 instructional practices include explicit instruction to 100% of student, across all settings. Instructional practices may be adjusted to reteach and differentiate based on student need. Of course, school counselors are not the only personnel to support core instruction. Discuss the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors with school staff and determine the areas of need for all students. Once areas of need are determined, the counselor can consult with administration and grade level teams to develop a plan for implementation.

Providing direct instruction of social emotional and academic skills is crucial for students to be successful both in school and post-graduation. We can't expect behavior and academic skills that have not been taught. Likewise, it isn't feasible for the school counselor to teach all of the social emotional and academic skills needed. An effective school counseling curriculum supports classroom learning of skills that are included in the instruction provided by the classroom teacher. Schoolwide initiatives like PBIS also fall into this tier because they provide the structure and expectations for all students. An effective core  allows 80% of students to be on target. 

Tier 2

In Tier 2, a second layer of strategic intervention is added. Students still receive core instruction but need additional support to be successful. Just like a math teacher will implement strategies to support students struggling to understand math concepts, students who struggle with social emotional learning or academic skills benefit from extra support.

The key word here is strategic. As a school, how do you know a student needs more support with behavior? Do you wait until they come to the office with a discipline referral? How can you use data to intervene earlier? Discussion in Professional Learning Communities within your building may be a great place to start. These discussions may show patterns of student behavior. PLCs typically dig deeper into available data as well and can serve as a jumping off point for counselors. 

As counselors, you are already doing Tier 2 work but may find that increasing your strategic focus may help. In my last school, I worked with students who had a high number of absences, students who needed to improve their academic skills, and students who showed anxiety about middle school. I chose these strategic interventions because I looked at the data and knew what was needed.

For counselors, Tier 2 can encompass work for a group of students that takes place individually. For instance, a behavior contract or Check-in/Check-out is a tier 2 intervention chosen for a group of students. Sometimes individual counseling can be a Tier 2 intervention, depending on the duration and intensity of the counseling. Meeting with a student 1-2 times about a friendship problem doesn't rise to the level of intensity that would be needed in a Tier 3 intervention.

Tier 3

Tier 3 interventions are intended for 1-5% of your student population. These kids are your super high flyers. Without additional supports, they can derail an entire classroom or grade level. Kids with Tier 3 support for behavior need a lot of help and most likely should be referred to an outside therapist. That doesn't mean there aren't Tier 3 interventions that counselors can put in place at the school! Tier 3 interventions are intensive, evidence-based instruction maximizing intensity, frequency, and duration. Interventions are progress monitored daily. Examples of Tier 3 interventions for counselors include FBA/BIP, suicide prevention, threat assessment, or collaboration and consultation with wrap around services for a child. 
So what instructional practices and interventions do you provide? How do they fit into the tiered model? I'd love for you to share!
School counselors work with all students and provide a variety of services. As more schools are aligning their efforts to the MTSS (multi-tiered system of support) model, it's important for counselors to be able to share how their work aligns with the school's system of support.
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26 Comments
Kelli Joyner
5/26/2017 11:35:05 pm

I would love to have more details about what you did exactly for your Tier 2 academic and attendance interventions if you don't mind sharing. I'm a K-2 counselor and just have not yet found any great interventions to put in practice for attendance that were effective. So I would truly appreciate and utilize your help :)
Thanks so much
Kelli Joyner

Reply
Ines Lazalde
3/16/2018 04:37:21 pm

Check out Attendanceworks.org they have tons of strategies. Also make sure you have a strong tier I in place. I also do a ton of home visits and phone calls home that are positive and supportive, as well as an incentive program. Kids check-in and out everyday to earn points for prizes. With these methodologies I have dropped chronic absenteeism by 4% this year.

Reply
Rebecca Atkins
3/16/2018 05:57:34 pm

Great data!

Rebecca Atkins link
5/30/2017 08:38:04 am

Hi Kelli! If you click the links within the article, you can see what I did for academic and attendance. For attendance, I used lesson plans that I purchased in the book Building Resiliency. I believe that many of the activities could be altered to work in K-2. For academics, I focused on goal setting and work habits. I think this would be pretty hard in K-2 based on their developmental level. Thanks for stopping by! Let me know if you have any more questions.

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Loree Cox
5/30/2017 08:54:13 am

Are you conducting any workshops this summer? I am also very interested in your tier 3 models. Do you have some behavior charts or other tangible activities that work well with your teachers and students?

Reply
Rebecca Atkins
5/30/2017 09:04:51 am

Hi Loree! I am not conducting any workshops this summer. Do you think you would be interested in a webinar? I can look into that.

I have a behavior chart pack in my TpT store and a blog post (search behavior) that you can check out. Let me know if you have any specific questions!

Reply
Tina
5/30/2017 10:14:12 am

Would love a webinar!

Rebecca Atkins link
5/30/2017 11:06:46 am

A webinar would be so fun! Sign up for the VIP list (top of the page) and I'll send out details this summer :)

Erin
5/31/2017 04:24:59 am

I would most definitely be interested in a webinar if you host one!

Loree Cox
6/1/2017 11:20:43 am

I am interested in a webinar!

Atiya Brooks link
10/21/2017 08:35:15 pm

I would love to sit in on webinar if you are still giving them. Can you inform me of cost, if there is any. I am working with tier 3 population and am interested in naturalistic interventions, if that makes sense.

Catherine sames
5/30/2017 05:36:25 pm

I would be interested in a webinar.

Reply
Amy link
5/30/2017 08:28:09 pm

Reply
Kelly Smith
5/31/2017 06:12:32 am

Hi there!

My current school has NO strategic social/emotional/behavioral model. I"m the first social worker in the school and have been trying to piece together anything I can. I'm specifically wondering about "data". What do you use to collect data in this area? Thank you!

Reply
Rebecca Atkins
5/31/2017 08:07:17 am

Hi Kelly,
I think many schools are facing this issue as we push toward a more structured support for SEL and behavior. Does your school collect office discipline referral data? That might be a good place to start. Of course, over time - we would want to help students before they end up in the office but we have to start somewhere.

One idea might be to complete a needs assessment or survey and ask teachers if 80% or more of their students consistently show positive SE skills and behavior. This is very subjective (again, have to start somewhere) but it will give you an idea of where your core is. I have a needs assessment in my store that is free - you can click on store at top of the page and search for it on TpT.

PBIS has a wealth of information on creating a sound core behavior system for your school if you think you need to start there. If core seems to be solid and you are really looking at a portion of students - about 15% - then office referrals may help with your Tier 2. Once you get office referrals down at Tier 2, you could widen your net and look at proactively supporting SEL using a universal screener or teacher surveys to identify which students need additional support.

Another way to target tier II interventions is through documenting minors in the classroom. You can google PBIS and minors and see more about what this means and how to go about implementing.

Hope that helps as a start, let me know if you need any additional information!

Reply
Connie Knorr
5/13/2021 05:45:56 am

Could you recommend a good universal screener?

Veronica Lee
11/7/2017 07:13:43 am

I would be interested in a Webnair focused and on the Three Tier Model !!!

Reply
Madison Sierer
3/15/2018 03:48:25 pm

Hi! I am somewhat new to the MTSS process. I've had a student in 2 groups - social skills and self control. Next week, we are finishing 8 sessions on self control and my student will then only be in one group with me. My instructional coach told me that if I drop my student down to 1 group, instead of keeping him in 2, it will look like he doesn't need services anymore and could drop him from a tier 3 to a tier 2. However, I'm concerned, because I was always taught that I am not long term care - to refer out if services are still needed. What are all of your thoughts?

Reply
Rebecca Atkins
3/16/2018 07:47:27 am

Hi Madison!

School counselors offer short term interventions and support for students. I'm not sure what size your school is but unless it is very small, it's not feasible for you to have this student in 2 groups all year. You are the school counselor and you decide how you can best support students.

I'm not sure why having 2 groups for 2 different skills = Tier 3. For instance, if a student is receiving Tier 2 supports for reading fluency and reading comprehension, that doesn't mean they are receiving Tier 3 support. Tier 3 is intensive and individualized based on need. Tier 2 is targeted instruction of skill needed and often happens for groups of students. A counseling group is a Tier 2 intervention. Tier 3 means individual instruction of a skill. In social emotional learning, this can happen in the counseling office, the intervention teacher, classroom teacher, etc. You are not the keeper of all SEL interventions! See more here: https://twitter.com/counselorup/status/949369042988658688

If this student still needs support with self-control, how can you support the classroom teacher in implementing Tier 3 interventions in the classroom? He can still receive Tier 3 support without you implementing it. You can also discuss the intervention in your Tier 3 meetings and say that though he had an 8 week intervention, he still needs this level of support. If it's not sustainable in classroom, then he may need individualized instruction through an IEP. Do you have an FBA/BIP for him? This would outline how your Tier 3 interventions for this student will work.

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Kimberly Sutphin
5/23/2018 11:34:12 am

I just starting my first year of 6th grade Middle School. There is so much to do and now my Admin wants to know how I will address Tiers. Any ideas and starting point suggestions? I was thing asking him if his staff and taken any PBS training for RTi........good or bad....what do you think.

Reply
Kelly Wright
3/2/2019 12:47:20 am

I am a new,this school year, K-2 SC. My prior work was middle school for 11 years- primarily reactive counseling (putting out fires). The school I am in has a MTSS framework in place. There are several pieces I struggle with as a SC- hoping for suggestions-
1- they use the SRSS as a guide for who might benefit from time with me, but often the higher scoring students are in MTSS-A during the allotted time. So I end up seeing Ss who are lower scoring. Trying to advocate for a change in that system (different times to meet those at risk kiddos etc).
2- as part of their existing structure I have 3 30 minute grade level MTSS-B meetings each week. I am responsible for the meetings but often feel unprepared as I’m not totally sure what to bring to the meeting.
3- Tier 1 isn’t necessarily happening.

I want to advocate at my leadership team a change for next year. I believe I have some support but want to present it well and with data to back me up.
Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas?
Thank you!

Reply
Rebecca Atkins
3/4/2019 01:01:02 pm

Hi Kelly - I agree that a change in the system of when students are seen by the counselor would make sense here. Also, if a student is receiving, say, reading intervention every day of the week, it might be ok for them to miss half an intervention block one day of the week to attend a group with you. Clearly, there are students that have a variety of needs. 2 - are you given a list of students that you will meet on ahead of time? If so, I would do a mini-observation of that student or check in with the teacher to see if they have any behavior/social emotional needs. As you get to know the students better, you will be more prepared. 3 - if Tier 1 isn't happening then none of this will work. I'm not sure if you mean in general or just in school counseling or in social emotional learning as a whole for students. Increasing preventative will decrease reactive. While it's hard to manage this during the shift, don't drop tier 1 to juggle 2/3. It's ineffective and it's not what's best for kids. I have been a K-2 counselor for about 450 kids and I taught 3 classes per month in each classroom because I know that preventative early prevents putting out fires all the time. Hope that's helpful. Feel free to email me as well. Hang in there - you're doing good work!

Reply
Miriam
10/2/2019 07:40:44 pm

Wondering what would be a good guideline for amount of time spent on tier 3 interventions. I am at a school of 420 and feel as though 5-10% of my students need tier 3, with about 5 needing support daily. With this, I feel like I cannot get into classrooms and teach because It it too much planning and organizing in addition to managing tier 3.

Reply
Rebecca Atkins
10/3/2019 04:23:54 am

Hi Miriam, I would look at it the other way around. As counselors, we work with all students. I recommend sitting down with your admin and making a plan for the number of classroom lessons and groups based on the needs of the school. Then fit your responsive services in between these times.

It sounds like from your comment that these might be students who are having behavioral difficulties and need an immediate response. When that happens, you can say to your admin “I’m supposed to be teaching a class in 5 minutes, do you want me to cancel?” Sometimes they’ll say yes because they don’t have anyone else they can delegate to. But many times, they’ll find another person.

If it’s planned tier 3 supports, you can use your calendar of groups and classes to determine how much you can reasonably do and fit what you can while working with other staff to meet student needs.

Reply
Masooma Mirza
11/11/2021 02:22:37 pm

Hi Rebecca!

Do you have sample SEL Lesson plans to view anywhere?

Rebecca Atkins
11/11/2021 02:47:29 pm

Hi Masooma,
Click on “TPT Store” at the top of the site to see the SEL lessons I have.

Reply



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    Rebecca Atkins

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