Factor A: how much service, how often

Two terms it rests on: specially designed instruction (SDI) is the adaptation of the content, method, or delivery of instruction to a student's disability-related needs — what the provider does, not what the student does. A direct service is delivered to the student; an indirect service supports the staff who serve the student. Factor A rates direct service.

Like every factor, it rates what the IEP requires, not what the student appears to need. A small documented amount of service is a low rating even for a student with significant needs.

The four levels

The levels increase the same way in four of the five domains:

Level	What it means
0 — None required	No direct SDI in this area; any supports are light accommodations
1 — Minimum	Direct SDI is targeted and limited, addressing a specific discrete need; at least one goal in this area
2 — Moderate	Direct SDI is regular and structured — multiple times a week or across settings; multiple goals
3 — Significant	Direct SDI is intensive and pervasive — daily or near-daily, structuring the whole day

Factor A in each domain

• Curriculum & Instruction — academic instruction: specialized reading, math, or writing teaching, modified content, alternate routes into grade-level material. Almost every student has some service here, so Level 0 is uncommon.
  • Level 2: about 1–5 hours per week per core subject.
  • Level 3: daily intensive instruction across subjects with significant curriculum modification.
• Behavior — behavioral instruction: teaching replacement skills, regulation and coping supports, counseling, a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).
  • Level 2: preventive — planned supports, a consistently run BIP.
  • Level 3: adds crisis response — de-escalation, emergency procedures, safety-driven intervention. Extensive preventive service alone stays a 2.
• Communication — speech and language therapy, AAC (augmentative and alternative communication — the devices or systems a student uses to communicate), and communication-partner support.
  • Level 2: regular service the student relies on, with AAC used mostly independently.
  • Level 3: pervasive support shaping communication all day, with AAC needing ongoing staff help.
• Independent Functioning — instruction for routines, transitions, organization, and self-management. The line tracks how much the staff do the work.
  • Level 2: builds independence in specific routines.
  • Level 3: near-continuous facilitation that structures the day rather than building toward independence.
• Personal Care / Health — help with toileting, feeding, mobility, hygiene, nursing, and health procedures.
  • Level 2: regular, consistent assistance with periods of independence.
  • Level 3: health or safety is at risk if the care is reduced or delayed, and it can't be postponed.

Where Curriculum differs

Curriculum uses a different scale from the other four. It measures in hours per core subject; Domains 2–5 use "less than 60 minutes per week" as the Level 1 marker. Don't carry Curriculum's hour-scale into the others.

Dyslexia instruction has its own Level 1 to Level 2 line. For a student receiving dyslexia instruction, the move from Level 1 to Level 2 turns on whether the IEP requires delivery through an evidence-based program with fidelity (Texas Education Code §38.003), at 225 or more minutes per week. Level 3 is instruction intensified beyond the standard program. If the IEP doesn't require the fidelity-based program, it's a Level 1 — the diagnosis alone doesn't rate it up.

What B, C, and D add

Factor A rates the service itself. The other three each ask something different about that same service:

• B — does the IEP require a specific kind of person to deliver it? Factor B
• C — does it require a specific staffing ratio? Factor C
• D — does it require specific equipment or technology? Factor D

The domain's score is its highest factor. In practice, if Factor A is 0 in a domain and no other factor applies, the domain scores 0. How scores become a tier covers how the domain scores combine.