Worked example · Tier 5 · Tenth grade
What a Tier 5 student looks like (high school)
Grace is a tenth grader with three domains rating Significant and a fourth Moderate — but the fifth domain is empty. Because the Tier 6 gate needs that fifth domain at Moderate, it doesn't fire, and the ladder places her at Tier 5. The difference between Tier 5 and 6 is one domain.
The student
Grace is a tenth grader with autism, served across general-education and resource settings. Her IEP documents specialized academic instruction five days a week, speech therapy, and behavioral support, with needs reaching academics, communication, behavior, and independent functioning. She does not have a dedicated 1:1 paraprofessional. At her age the program carries transition emphasis — adult communication, self-management, post-secondary readiness — layered on substantial day-to-day support. She's a recognizable high-school profile of a substantially-involved student.
What jumps out first
No override. Four domains are live; Personal Care/Health is empty. Like the elementary four-domain student, this looks at a glance like a top-of-scale case — and the teaching is in why it isn't, which the tier step makes clear. The same age-relative rating note applies: intensity is judged against same-grade peers.
The domains that matter
Four domains carry a direct service. Rating each domain's factors against what Grace's IEP requires, the domain score is the highest factor (highest-wins).
Curriculum & Instruction — Significant. Carried by equipment; academic access depends on integrated assistive technology. About this domain →
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | Specialized academic instruction on a recurring schedule | Moderate (2) |
| B — credentials | Delivered by special-education staff | Moderate (2) |
| C — ratio | Small-group resource-room ratio | Moderate (2) |
| D — equipment | Academic access depends on integrated assistive technology | Significant (3) |
Communication — Significant. Carried by type/frequency — substantial recurring communication SDI. About this domain →
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | Substantial recurring communication SDI | Significant (3) |
| B — credentials | Delivered by a licensed SLP | Moderate (2) |
| C — ratio | No special ratio required | Minimum (1) |
| D — equipment | No specialized equipment required | None (0) |
Behavior — Significant. Carried by credentials — behavioral support requiring specialized staff. About this domain →
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | Light behavioral support touchpoints | Minimum (1) |
| B — credentials | Behavioral support requiring specialized staff | Significant (3) |
| C — ratio | No special ratio required | None (0) |
| D — equipment | No specialized equipment required | Minimum (1) |
Independent Functioning — Moderate. Transition-oriented self-management supports at a moderate level. About this domain →
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | Self-management supports embedded in instruction | Minimum (1) |
| B — credentials | Transition-oriented support staff | Moderate (2) |
| C — ratio | Small-group transition setting | Moderate (2) |
| D — equipment | Self-management tools and supports | Moderate (2) |
So three Significant + one Moderate across four live domains.
The empty domains
Personal Care / Health has no direct service — and that empty fifth domain is what holds her at Tier 5. One line in the rating; load-bearing at the gate.
The tier
Tier 5, by the ladder — not Tier 6. This is the teaching point. The Tier 6 gate needs four domains Significant plus the fifth at Moderate. Grace has three Significant, one Moderate, and one empty — she doesn't meet the four-significant pattern, so the gate doesn't fire and she's placed by the ordinary ladder sum at Tier 5. If that empty Personal Care/Health domain had any documented service that pushed it to Moderate or higher, the arithmetic — and possibly the gate — would change. The tier is a statement about the pattern across all five domains, not just how heavy any one is.
The Tier 6 gate is a pattern, not a sum: four domains Significant and the fifth at Moderate. With an empty fifth domain, Grace meets neither half of that pattern, so the gate stays shut and the ordinary ladder sum sets her tier — one domain short of Tier 6.
Service groups
The separate read for time and staffing. Service groups are time and staffing, not domain ratings. Grace has speech and behavioral support as related services; summed across the six-week period (speech 30 min/wk + behavioral support 30 min/wk = 360 minutes) they place her in Service Group 2. She has no dedicated 1:1, so despite substantial needs she does not reach Service Group 4 or 5 — the 1:1 axis measures dedicated one-to-one staffing, not the amount of support overall.
What this example shows
A high-school student with needs across four domains lands at Tier 5, not 6 — because the Tier 6 gate is about a specific pattern (four Significant plus a Moderate fifth), and an empty fifth domain keeps her on the ordinary ladder. It also shows, again, that substantial support without a dedicated 1:1 doesn't reach the top service group.
Related examples
- One Significant domain fewer (Tier 4) — Christian Garcia is Tier 4 with two Significant domains where Grace has three; the step just below her on the ladder.
- The gate firing — fifth domain Moderate, not empty — give Grace's empty fifth domain a Moderate score and the 4+1 gate lifts Zuri Moore to Tier 6. The direct contrast that shows what the gate needs.
- How scores become a tier — the gate, explained.