Audit staff time by tiers

Districts are being told to sort student-support work into three buckets and count where staff hours actually go: schoolwide help, small groups, or one-on-one care. (mtss4success.org) In the standard Multi-Tiered System of Supports model, Tier 1 means universal supports for all students, Tier 2 means targeted interventions for some students, and Tier 3 means intensive, individualized services for a small share of students. (ies.ed.gov) For social and emotional learning, Tier 1 usually covers schoolwide lessons and routines, Tier 2 covers small-group support for students with mild or emerging needs, and Tier 3 covers individualized help for students with significant mental health or trauma-related needs. (mtss4success.org) (edutopia.org) The point of a staff-time audit is not just classification. State and national guidance on Multi-Tiered System of Supports says teams should use data to decide whether universal supports are strong enough before moving more students into targeted or intensive tiers. (ospi.k12.wa.us) (mimtsstac.org) That matters because weak Tier 1 systems can flood Tier 2 and Tier 3. The PBIS center says Tier 3 is typically meant for about 1% to 5% of students after Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports have not connected. (pbis.org) Several guidance documents now frame Tier 1 as more than academics. Massachusetts’ 2025 blueprint says the foundational tier includes preventive skill-building, universal screening, and progress monitoring across school belonging, academic success, social-emotional development, and health and wellness. (doe.mass.edu) District leaders are also being pushed to look at delivery, not just program lists. Texas guidance says Tier 2 layers on top of Tier 1 rather than replacing it, while Tier 3 is delivered more often, in smaller groups, and with more individualization. (tea.texas.gov) Research on statewide social and emotional support systems has made the same point in practice. One study in *Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy* found a school improved its Tier 2 system first, then used the time and resources freed up in year three to review and strengthen Tier 1 social and emotional learning. (sciencedirect.com) A quick site-level audit can show whether counselors, social workers, psychologists, and administrators are spending most of their week on crisis response and individual cases or on broader preventive work. That gives districts a way to compare staffing patterns with the three-tier model they say they are running. (vtss-resources.vcu.edu) (educate.iowa.gov) If the hours are stacked at the top of the pyramid, the audit will show it. If districts want more students served through universal and targeted supports, the first number to check is how adults are already spending the school day. (mtss4success.org)