The Principal's Handbook

In today's episode, we're going to be talking about: before we add another intervention, let's fix Tier 1. That's all coming up next on The Principal's Handbook.

Welcome to The Principal's Handbook, your go-to resource for principals looking to revamp their leadership approach and prioritize self-care. I'm Barb Flowers, a certified life coach with eight years of experience as an elementary principal. Tune in each week as we delve into strategies for boosting mental resilience, managing time effectively, and nurturing overall wellness.

From tackling daily challenges to maintaining a healthy work-life balance, we'll navigate the complexities of school leadership together. Join me in fostering your sense of purpose as a principal and reigniting your passion for the job. Welcome to a podcast where your well-being is the top priority.

Welcome back. Today we are talking about Tier 1 instruction, and before we move on to interventions, we need to make sure that we are doing our Tier 1 instruction, monitoring that, and seeing what that looks like for our students.

A lot of times, what I see in schools—and what I'm even guilty of as a principal—is that if a student isn't making progress, our instinct is to add something: another intervention, another program, another resource, another block of instruction. We just think about, what can we add to help this student?

Which is great, but sometimes the question shouldn't be, "What should we add?" It should be, "How strong and coherent is the instruction the student is already receiving?"

We can't intervene out of a Tier 1 problem, right? We've all heard that quote.

I remember being a Title tutor in the first district I was in, and I was working with grades two and three. Fifty percent of our kids weren't on track, and we were deciding who I should work with, and I was so stressed.

I was a brand-new teacher. I didn't realize what the problem was. I did go into classrooms, and I could see that the reading instruction wasn't what I had known as best practices at the time for kids. Really, I could see it was a Tier 1 problem. I just didn't know that was what needed to be done.

So we were trying to intervene a Tier 1 problem, and it was super stressful.

But I feel like that happens a lot, even now. We know that we need to be focusing on our Tier 1 instruction, but a lot of times, if we look at our data, we're focused on what interventions we should be providing, who else can help, and what else we need to be doing.

I just want to talk about this today in our podcast episode. I'm in a new district this year, and that's been our big focus. I'm in an elementary K–5. We're focused on our Tier 1 instruction across the district K–12.

I'm also doing some trainings this year where we are actually focused on Tier 1 instruction, and we have to create some goals for ourselves and really help our teachers monitor that.

So that is where the inspiration for this episode came from, and I feel like we are all probably in the same boat with this, where we're thinking about our Tier 1 instruction. So, what a great topic.

First, I want to talk about how Tier 1 is where we have the greatest impact. Tier 1 is the only instruction that reaches every single student that we have every single day.

When a lot of students aren't successful, our first response is typically, "Who needs to be in intervention? What do we need to be doing to intervene?"

But instead, I would like you to start thinking about: What are students experiencing during their core instruction? Are teachers teaching the adopted curriculum consistently?

In Ohio, it's a big push to talk about HQIM. Do you have high-quality instructional materials for teachers?

When I was teaching, a lot of times—actually, the whole time I taught—there were no high-quality instructional materials for reading. It was a very old curriculum, and so there were a lot of things that I was pulling from Teachers Pay Teachers or other workbooks to help me with my teaching, and it just wasn't good.

Looking back on that, I think one of the things I struggled with the most as a teacher was that I knew what good instruction looked like. I just didn't have the materials to do it.

So if teachers aren't teaching great Tier 1 instruction, is it because they don't want to, or do they even have the high-quality instructional materials?

That's something else to ask.

Are students getting enough modeling, guided practice, feedback, and opportunities to respond?

All of this kind of reminds me of Anita Archer's work. I did a book study with my building last year, and we talked about this: the modeling, the feedback, and the opportunities to respond.

Those are all important practices.

And then, are we checking whether students actually learned it before moving on?

It's not about what the teachers taught, but it's about what the students are doing. So are we checking that?

Really, as a leader, when you're meeting with your teachers in PLCs—or we call them TBTs in Ohio, teacher-based teams—think about, before building a bigger intervention system, what does your Tier 1 look like?

A great tool, if you're elementary, is the Reading Tiered Fidelity Inventory. I think it comes from Michigan—the RTFI. That's a great tool to look at your reading instruction.

But just start thinking about: Where are you with Tier 1? Where are people with their knowledge?

I'm using literacy as the example because that's what is in my mind right now, but this is math. This can be science, social studies, any curriculum.

What are students getting at Tier 1?

Another thing to think about is fidelity versus integrity.

I laugh because, at my first district that I was at, they were adopting a curriculum right before I left, and we kept using the term "fidelity." Teachers were like, "If I hear the term fidelity again, I want to throw up," right?

They hated that term "fidelity," and I get it because we used it so much.

They went from being very independent, or feeling independent as teachers, where they could just pick materials that we had and find other materials as long as they were teaching the standards.

So they felt like when we were getting a more structured literacy program—even math—that they were being watched more closely. If we said "fidelity," it meant you had to teach the scripted curriculum, you couldn't change anything, and it took the fun and joy out of teaching.

Teaching, for them, felt more boring. The complaint was that it's boring for kids, and they felt like they were losing their creativity in teaching.

I've heard this at every building that I'm in, so this is not just pertinent to that school that I was in.

But I was just at this conference, and they talked about the difference between fidelity and integrity, and I really liked the definition.

Fidelity is thinking about: Did I follow the program as written?

With fidelity, a lot of times we're thinking about following the scripted program exactly as written.

Integrity is about preserving the essential components and the intent of the curriculum, but you can use it to respond to the students in front of you.

So integrity does not mean, "I don't like this lesson. I'm going to teach something else."

It doesn't even mean, "The pacing guide says this lesson takes one day, so I'm going to move on tomorrow even though half my students don't understand it."

You can choose what that looks like for you. Not that you'd want to do one lesson for an entire week, but you have to really think about the students in front of you and how you make the curriculum work for the students in your classroom.

That's integrity.

Because a big part of Tier 1 that we have to think about is the vocabulary that we're using.

I can think of a math teacher I had at a building, and he was such a great math teacher. One of the things that I feel was so special about how he taught math was the vocabulary that he used.

It was the actual definitions and the bigger terminology that they use in fourth-grade math, where he really encouraged even our primary teachers to start using those words like "decompose."

If you're talking about fractions, use "numerator" and "denominator." Use the actual words.

A lot of times in elementary, teachers want to soften the words. Even when you're thinking about greater than or less than, it's like, "The alligator's mouth is open, eating the number."

But he was all about the vocabulary.

That's a part of integrity—thinking about, okay, if you have a Tier 1 curriculum, what are the teaching strategies that they want you to use? Are you utilizing those across all tiers and using that same common language and vocabulary? Are you making sure that you're really using that curriculum with integrity?

Another way to think about integrity is maybe the lesson needs another day. Maybe students need more modeling of the skill. Maybe you need to reteach a prerequisite skill because you realize they're not even ready for that skill in the book. Maybe students need more guided practice with the teacher before going into independent work.

So the question really becomes, when we think about our Tier 1 curriculum: What are the non-negotiables that we need to protect, and where do teachers have professional flexibility?

This is really important.

I'm going to give the example—and this is very specific—but in Fundations, which is a phonics curriculum, a lot of teachers don't like to use the letter boards.

It is a lot of work to get the letter boards out. With little kids, it can be a pain because letters are falling everywhere.

They're magnet boards, which is what they actually are. They're little letters that are magnets that kids can use to make words.

But if you never use that tool, that material that goes with the program, you're really not teaching with integrity because the program is a multisensory approach.

So it's using whiteboards. It's using those magnet boards. It's using decodable text. You have to use all the different materials and components.

I can think about math, too.

We did Envision Math in a school when I was teaching, and a huge part of the lesson was to open up with this exploration.

Well, when we got the curriculum—and this was so new for teachers—people just cut that part out.

They're like, "Well, we don't want to do the exploration. That takes a lot to get out the manipulatives, and that's just a huge chunk, and our kids need more modeling."

Well, when you do that, you're losing the integrity of the program.

So that's what we're talking about here when we think about integrity.

What is the purpose of these components, and what are the non-negotiables that we have to make sure people are using?

Then the bigger issue really becomes—and I mentioned it briefly—coherence across the tiers.

A lot of times, when kids leave Tier 1 instruction, they go to Tier 2 or Tier 3 instruction, and they're getting a whole different curriculum that's not aligned. It's using different vocabulary and different terms to teach, and then kids are getting confused.

Our students who are struggling need so much repetition of the same terminology and the same things, and they're not getting that when we're using different curriculums.

That's another thing.

I just actually was talking to a gifted teacher about this. Even with our gifted students or those students who are being enriched, just because they're higher achieving or they're above level doesn't mean that they don't need that same concept, just going deeper, instead of something completely different that is enriching.

So just think about that: core instruction is one program and vocabulary, and having interventions that really align with that.

Even if you have after-school or before-school tutoring, are you using a different curriculum?

Something to think about.

Ask ourselves, particularly for students who struggle: Can they make these connections between what they're learning in Tier 1, Tier 2 or 3, after-school tutoring, or even enrichment?

Think about that.

What if intervention wasn't something completely separate from Tier 1, but something that actually just strengthened your Tier 1?

Which just goes into what I was talking about: same language, same concepts, but more support.

You don't have to necessarily use the same materials everywhere, but you want that instructional coherence.

So if students are learning a specific strategy or vocabulary in Tier 1, can there be an intervention that reinforces the same language?

If Tier 1 introduces a concept, can intervention have more modeling, a smaller group size, more practice, more feedback, and more repetition?

It could be that—I'm thinking about math—you need a different tool that helps them see it a different way, right? Instead of doing a completely unrelated approach.

Enrichment can work the same way.

You have your same core learning; you just go into greater depth, greater complexity, more application, and more transfer that students could use.

Because students shouldn't feel like they are attending three different schools depending on where they are based on core instruction.

As we start to think about this—and this, for me, has really been a big mindset shift—you have to acknowledge that this is different.

And it's not that different in the fact that I know we've talked about Tier 1 forever. For as long as I can remember, it's been about Tier 1.

But I do think it's a shift when we're thinking about: If all kids aren't at 80%, what's going on with Tier 1? Instead of trying to intervene and fix kids, we need to think about, "Okay, let's fix our instruction. Let's fix our teaching. Is something wrong with the curriculum?"

A lot of times when we do this, teachers can get very defensive because teaching is an emotional career.

I feel like teachers put their hearts into teaching, and they want to do what's best for kids a lot of times.

So when they hear "fidelity" or think that they're doing something wrong, they get very defensive.

But it's important that you just bring up these conversations in that group setting, whether it's a professional learning community or a TBT.

Help people shift their mindset, and start shifting your own mindset, that if we don't have our kids on level, it could not just be an intervention problem, but it's probably a Tier 1 problem.

So think about: What high-quality instructional materials are we using, and how are we actually using those materials? How is there consistency across the building? How is there coherence?

Again, coherence does not mean everyone in every single classroom is teaching the exact same way, but it means everyone's going in the same direction.

Everybody is headed to the same place. We have the same goals for students, we're using the same vocabulary, and it's really coherent throughout the grade level and year to year.

As we move on, I just want to give you four practical things to think about.

One is to define the Tier 1 non-negotiables.

Now, if you're an elementary principal and you have teachers teaching multiple subjects, what I would suggest here is to just focus on one subject at a time.

Think about what you want every student to experience. Maybe it's phonics, maybe it's your actual ELA curriculum, or math.

What must every student experience?

Then I want you to clarify your fidelity. I want you to clarify what fidelity looks like versus professional judgment.

Where do teachers need to follow the curriculum closely, and where can they adjust the pacing, the modeling, the practice, or reteaching?

Those are things to think about and to talk about with your teachers.

Then look across your tiers.

Put your Tier 1, intervention, and enrichment resources side by side. How different is the vocabulary? How different are the strategies being taught or the instructional approaches?

Really focus on creating that common language.

Hopefully, you have high-quality instructional materials that do that.

But if not, what language do we want students hearing everywhere, year to year? Think about that vertical alignment so that a third-grade student in your building is getting that same instruction. They're not learning different things.

A lot of times we think—and we're going through this now, we're getting ready to look at a new curriculum adoption for ELA—"Okay, that's going to fix everything."

But sometimes improving instruction isn't really about finding the next program. It's making sure what we're doing is coherent.

Whether you do get a new program, it's starting with that coherence and making sure that everybody is coherent and using that program with integrity.

But it's important, if you've got a program and you're going to be using that program, that you really help people figure out what that should look like.

Strong Tier 1 instruction gives students the foundation. Intervention is your opportunity to strengthen and build on that foundation, and your enrichment is going to extend it.

When these pieces are connected, it's going to actually help students be more successful, and it's going to help them be able to make more growth.

So just think about: If you were to follow students throughout the day, how many instructional programs are being used? How many supplemental materials are being used?

Are teachers going on Teachers Pay Teachers? Are they finding their own resources? What does it look like?

This can be really complicated now, I feel like, with all the computer programs that are out there and resources on TPT, but it's just something for you to think about.

I hope that you found some value in today.

I would love to hear from you about what you're going to be trying in your building to help with Tier 1. Feel free to send me an email at barb@barbflowerscoaching.com.

I'm also going to put a link. I do have an Instructional Leadership Toolkit, so if you're interested in being a better instructional leader as a principal, that's what we're talking about today—really monitoring that Tier 1.

But I actually give tips in that toolkit for how to make it happen because I know, as principals, with how busy we are, it can be really difficult.

So I hope you have a great week, and I will see you on the podcast next time.