Worked example · Tier 1 · First grade
What a minimal-services Tier 1 student looks like
Casey is a first grader with one light academic service and every factor rated Minimum. He lands at Tier 1 the ordinary way — a low score that simply doesn't climb the ladder, the other road to the same floor as the speech-only student.
The student
Casey is a first grader in a general-education classroom, identified under Other Health Impairment. His IEP documents one direct special education service: targeted academic specially designed instruction, 45 minutes three times a week, for a discrete learning need. One academic goal, predictable accommodations, no related services, no aide, no specialized equipment. He's the recognizable "light-touch" SPED student — real, qualifying special education, but narrow in scope.
What jumps out first
No override applies, so this is a full rating. The triage runs short in the opposite direction from a complex student: only one domain (Curriculum & Instruction) has any direct service, so that's the only domain to rate. The rest are empty.
The domain that matters
Curriculum & Instruction is the one live domain. Rating its four factors against what Casey's IEP requires:
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | One targeted academic SDI service at limited intensity, one academic goal | Minimum (1) |
| B — credentials | Deliverable by a SPED teacher with typical expertise; no advanced specialization | Minimum (1) |
| C — ratio | Some small-group instruction, no continuous reduced ratio | Minimum (1) |
| D — equipment | Standard materials; no assistive tech required for FAPE | None (0) |
The highest factor sets the domain (highest-wins): Curriculum & Instruction = Minimum.
The empty domains
Behavior, Communication, Independent Functioning, and Personal Care/Health have no direct service — nothing to rate, one line, move on.
The tier
Tier 1, by the ladder. One domain at Minimum and four empty produces the lowest possible total, and the ladder places that at Tier 1. It's rail-anchored in the practical sense: there's no arithmetic by which a single Minimum domain reaches a higher tier, so there's no judgment-middle to name.
Service groups
Service groups are the separate read for time and staffing. For Groups 1–3 you sum related-services minutes. Casey has no related services, so there are no related-services minutes to sum → no group 1–3, and no dedicated 1:1 → no group 4–5. Tier 1, no service group.
What this example shows
Tier 1 isn't only the speech-only override — it's also where a genuinely light profile lands by the plain ladder. Read alongside the speech-only Tier 1 student, it makes the point that the same tier is reached by two completely different roads: one a rule that forces the floor regardless of factors, the other a low score that simply doesn't climb. The bottom of the ladder is a real, common place for a student to be.
Related examples
- The speech-only Tier 1 student — also Tier 1, but placed there by an override regardless of her factors. The contrast shows the two ways a student reaches the floor: a low score versus a rule that sets the tier independently of the score.
- The same domain, one level higher — her one academic domain rates Significant instead of Minimum, the single step that moves Tier 1 to Tier 2.
- How a low score lands at Tier 1 — the ladder this example runs on.