Orientation · Factors
What is a factor?
This explains the second piece of the rubric's structure: factors. (If you haven't yet, read "What is a domain?" first — factors live inside domains.)
A factor is one question you ask in every domain
Inside each of the five domains, you answer the same four questions. These four are the factors. They're identical from domain to domain — only the answers change:
| Factor | The question | In plain terms |
|---|---|---|
| A | Type, frequency, nature of the service | How much service, how often? |
| B | Required provider credentials | Who has to deliver it? |
| C | Required grouping / ratio | Does it need a special staffing ratio? |
| D | Required equipment / technology | Does it need special equipment? |
Each factor is scored 0 to 3 (none, minimum, moderate, significant), just like the domain.
Why four questions instead of one?
Because "how intensive is this support" has more than one dimension. A service can be:
- small in amount but require a rare specialist (low A, high B),
- modest in amount but require constant 1:1 staffing (low A, high C),
- or depend entirely on a device the student can't function without (high D).
The four factors are four independent lenses on the same support. Looking through all four keeps you from missing a source of intensity that a single "how much" question would hide.
The pattern that makes this easy
Here's the thing that makes 20 boxes (5 domains × 4 factors) feel like far fewer:
- Factors A, C, and D barely change from domain to domain. "How much" always escalates the same way (a slice → several slices → the whole day). "Ratio" always goes intermittent → planned → near-constant. "Equipment" always goes handy → relied-on → can't-function-without.
- Only Factor B really changes per domain, because who the specialist is differs — a dyslexia practitioner in Curriculum, a behavior analyst in Behavior, a speech-language pathologist in Communication, a nurse in Personal Care.
So you're really learning four patterns, then noticing who the specialist is in each area — not twenty separate things. Factor A, B, C, D
How factors become a domain score
The domain takes its highest factor. One Significant factor makes the whole domain Significant — because if any single dimension of a support is intensive, the support is intensive. What is a domain
One rule that governs all four
Whatever the factor, you rate what the IEP requires — not what the student seems to need or what would be ideal. If the IEP doesn't require it, you rate the level whose language matches what the IEP actually says. How to rate a student
Where to go next
- The four factor pieces, each walking its question across all five domains: Factor A
- To rate a specific domain: the five domain pieces. The five domain pages
- The order of operations: How to rate a student