Tier 3

What is Tier 3?

Tier 3 support is meant for students who have not responded to Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports. Tier 3 is highly individualized and should only include about 1-5% of students. Tier 3 strategies provide the most intensive and individualized support of all three tiers. Students in this Tier may have behavioral disorders, developmental disabilities or other disorders such as autism or ADHD. This level of support is intended for a small number of students who require extra support in addition to Tiers 1 and 2 (PBIS World).


How do you move to Tier 3?

When moving into Tier 3, a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and a Behavior Intervention Plan are solid stepping stones. For a student whose behavior is affecting the academic success of him/herself and/or others, using an FBA is a way to determine the challenging behavior and decide which practices are best suited for that behavior. Once the target behavior has been defined, data should be collected consistently (Tier 3 Overview 2025). This data should include areas such as problem behavior, incidents, consequences, and setting/environment prior to the behavior.


Tier 3 Practices/Interventions:

· Individualized Behavior/Support Intervention Plans

· Time to cool down after an incident

· Debriefing after an incident through a Behavior Improvement Form and one-on-one conversations

· Teaching students how to self-monitor and self-regulate emotions

· Use of pre-correction and cues from the teacher to the student

· Rewards when progress is being made

· Teaching students to replace negative self-talk with positive-self talk

· Consistent meetings between teacher and student

· Structured expectations, reinforcements, and consequences

· Teaching stress management skills

(Center on PBIS 2025)