Worked example · Tier 7 · Seventh grade
What an all-domains-significant student looks like
Juan is a seventh grader whose IEP documents real, intensive support in every one of the five domains, and all five rate Significant. That pattern is what the all-five-significant gate looks for, placing him at Tier 7 — the top of the scored ladder, set by the pattern rather than a running total.
The student
Juan is a seventh grader with autism, served in a self-contained setting with a dedicated 1:1 paraprofessional throughout his day. His IEP documents specialized instruction five days a week, plus speech therapy, occupational therapy, and a behavioral support service, and his health needs are documented as complex. Every part of his school day is built around specialized instruction and support — there's no domain where the IEP is silent. He's the recognizable profile of a maximally-involved student, the kind whose ARD paperwork is thick because real supports are documented across the board.
What jumps out first
No override applies — he's not speech-only, and not in an ARD-determined day or residential placement — so this is a full rating. The triage here is the opposite of a speech-only kid's: every domain is live, so there's nothing to set aside. The job is to rate all five and see where the pattern lands.
Walking the domains
Taking the highest factor as each domain's score (highest-wins), here's how Juan's five domains land, with the factor that carries each.
Curriculum & Instruction → Significant
Ratio and equipment both rate Significant (Factors C and D = 3) — his instruction requires a highly individualized staffing ratio and equipment that's foundational to access.
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | Specialized instruction five days a week | Moderate (2) |
| B — credentials | Delivered by special education staff | Moderate (2) |
| C — ratio | Highly individualized staffing ratio | Significant (3) |
| D — equipment | Equipment foundational to access | Significant (3) |
Behavior → Significant
Ratio and equipment again carry it (C and D = 3); the behavioral support is intensive and individualized.
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | Recurring behavioral support service | Moderate (2) |
| B — credentials | Delivered by behavior staff | Moderate (2) |
| C — ratio | Intensive, individualized staffing | Significant (3) |
| D — equipment | Individualized behavioral supports | Significant (3) |
Communication → Significant
Equipment carries it (Factor D = 3) — his communication access depends on technology that's integrated through the day, even though the other communication factors are lower. A clean illustration of highest-wins: one Significant factor sets the domain.
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | Recurring speech therapy on a set schedule | Moderate (2) |
| B — credentials | Delivered by a licensed SLP | Moderate (2) |
| C — ratio | No special ratio required | Minimum (1) |
| D — equipment | Communication technology integrated through the day | Significant (3) |
Independent Functioning → Significant
Ratio and equipment again (C and D = 3).
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | Recurring occupational therapy support | Moderate (2) |
| B — credentials | Delivered by standard support staff | Minimum (1) |
| C — ratio | Highly individualized staffing | Significant (3) |
| D — equipment | Equipment foundational to independence | Significant (3) |
Personal Care / Health → Significant
Every factor rates Significant here (A, B, C, D all = 3) — the most uniformly intense domain, consistent with the complex-health documentation.
| Factor | What the IEP requires | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A — type/frequency | Complex, documented health needs | Significant (3) |
| B — credentials | Delivered by health-qualified staff | Significant (3) |
| C — ratio | Highly individualized care | Significant (3) |
| D — equipment | Health equipment foundational to access | Significant (3) |
The empty domains
There are none. Every domain has documented direct service — itself the signature of this profile.
The tier
Tier 7, by the all-five-significant gate. When all five domains reach Significant, the rubric routes to Tier 7 — the top of the scored ladder — by a gate that overrides the ordinary sum. How scores become a tier → It rests on the pattern (five Significant domains), not on a borderline judgment, so there's no middle to hedge. What gets him here is the pattern, not a big arithmetic total — that distinction is the whole point of the gate, and the four-significant-plus-one student is the contrast that makes it visible.
When all five domains rate Significant, the rubric routes the student to Tier 7 — the top of the scored ladder — set by the pattern rather than a running total. It's a deterministic gate, not an arithmetic argument.
Service groups
The separate read for time and staffing. Juan has several related services — speech (30 min × 2/wk), OT (30 min/wk), and behavioral support (90 min × 2/wk) — summing to roughly 1,620 minutes per six-week period, well past the 540-minute threshold for Service Group 3. He also has a dedicated 1:1 paraprofessional, which is what Groups 4–5 measure (1:1 as a percentage of the instructional day — not where he's seated), so he additionally carries a Group 4/5 designation. The two axes are independent; Juan sits high on both. How service groups work →
What this example shows
A student can have every domain documented and every one reach Significant — and the rubric has a clean rule for exactly that case, the all-five-significant gate, which lands him at Tier 7 with no arithmetic argument. It also shows highest-wins doing real work: in Communication, a single Significant factor (equipment) carries the whole domain, even though the other three are lower.
Related examples
- Four significant, one moderate (Tier 6) — drop Juan's fifth domain from Significant to Moderate and the all-five gate becomes the 4+1 gate → Tier 6.
- A Tier 5 multi-domain student — drop it further to empty and no gate fires at all → Tier 5 by the ladder. The three together show the gate by its fifth domain.
- A top tier set by override — Tier 8 by placement, the contrast to Juan's Tier 7 by the gate.
- How overrides and gates work — the gate this example makes concrete.