MTSS: Three Paths to Provide Strong Tier 1 Instruction

This is the second blog in a series focusing on strategies teachers can use DURING instruction to actively engage students, facilitate meaning-making, and create more dynamic and responsive learning experiences. The first blog in the series, “MTSS: Setting the Stage for Strong Tier 1 Instruction,“ can help teachers prepare for effective Tier 1, so check that out if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

Related Podcast Episode

Selecting an instructional strategy is a lot like choosing the right dining experience.

Just as we consider the type of meal that best suits a particular situation—grabbing takeout for convenience, enjoying a family-style dinner for connection, or opting for a chef’s table experience for a more personalized touch—teachers must be intentional about how they deliver instruction. The format they choose should align with their learning goals, support diverse student needs, and maximize engagement with the content.

Some lessons benefit from video instruction that allow students to engage with new information at their own pace. Other lessons benefit from group collaboration, where structured discussion strategies ensure active participation and collaborative meaning-making. By contrast, when students need targeted support, small group differentiated instruction provides the personalized guidance necessary.

This blog explores these three pathways for delivering effective Tier 1 instruction, highlighting how each format—video, whole group collaboration, and small group instruction—can create more engaging, inclusive, and equitable learning experiences.

Selecting an Instructional Strategy: Questions to Consider

Educators must be intentional about delivering instruction to make learning accessible for all students. Choosing the right format—whether video instruction, whole group, or small group—can remove barriers, support diverse learning needs, and ensure students engage meaningfully with new content. The key is recognizing that no single approach works for every learner or every situation; instead, teachers can select the best method based on the lesson’s objectives, student needs, and available resources.

When helping teachers decide on an instructional strategy, I encourage teachers to consider the following questions.

How will students interact with new information?

• Will I explain or model the concepts the same way for all students or would it benefit from differentiated instruction?
• Is this content complex or open-ended, where discussion and peer input would help students make meaning?
• Would students benefit from verbalizing their thinking, debating ideas, or explaining concepts to peers to deepen their understanding?
• Will students benefit from repeat exposure to this content throughout the school year?

Determining the Level of Support Needed

• What level of support will students need during the instructional session? Is the content best experienced individually, collaboratively with peer support, or with direct teacher support?
• Is this instruction foundational, requiring a solid understanding before students can build on it in future lessons?
• Does this concept have multiple steps, abstract ideas, or real-world applications that would benefit from structured discussion or guided practice?

Using Assessment Data to Inform Instruction

• Do pre-assessment or formative assessment results indicate varying levels of prior knowledge or skill among students?
• Are there distinct learning needs or gaps that might make a one-size-fits-all approach ineffective?
• Have students struggled with similar content before, suggesting they may need more scaffolding or structured support?

During Instruction: Three Approaches to Tier 1 Instruction

This section explores three pathways for delivering Tier 1 instruction, offering practical strategies to enhance classroom engagement, collaboration, and personalization.

Video Instruction

If the instruction or modeling session is the same for all students and focuses on a concept or skill they may need to see or hear multiple times, video instruction is a powerful option. It allows students to control the pace of their learning, pausing, rewinding, or rewatching as needed. This is especially helpful for foundational concepts that students must fully grasp before building on them and for complex processes that benefit from visual modeling and step-by-step explanation.

In addition to shifting control over the pace of learning to students, video instruction also helps teachers maximize instructional minutes. Instead of repeating explanations for students who were absent or need a refresher, teachers can direct them to a video, ensuring everyone has access to the same high-quality instruction without slowing the whole class’s progress. Many video platforms also provide accessibility features like closed captions, transcripts, and adjustable playback speeds, ensuring that students can engage with the content in a way that works best for them.

When well designed and intentionally paired with interactive elements, video instruction doesn’t just deliver content—it creates the time and space for meaningful teacher-student interactions during class.

Not all videos are created equal. The design is important because a well-designed video helps students focus on what is important and avoids cognitive overload. I share research-based strategies to create effective instructional videos in my flipped classroom mini-course. Below is a quick summary!

Whole Group Instruction Paired with a Cooperative Learning Strategy

When all students need exposure to the same concepts, but discussion and collaborative meaning-making will enhance their understanding, whole group instruction paired with a structured cooperative learning strategy can be a powerful approach to Tier 1 instruction. This is particularly effective when the content is complex or open-ended, and students benefit from hearing different perspectives, verbalizing their thinking, or working through ideas and issues with their peers.

Whole group instruction allows the teacher to introduce, model, or guide students through the material, but how students actively engage with that content matters. Without an intentional structure, whole group instruction can be a passive experience for students with a lot of teacher talk and only a handful of students participating. Pairing it with a cooperative learning strategy, like Numbered Heads Together, ensures that all students engage actively, process new ideas collaboratively, and develop a deeper understanding through structured discussion and problem-solving.

Numbered Heads Together is a cooperative learning strategy developed by Dr. Spencer Kagen. It promotes active engagement, creates accountability, provides formative assessment data, and encourages collaboration. Below is a brief overview of how it works.

• Step 1: Create heterogeneous groups of approximately four students of mixed skill and ability.
  • Assign each student in each group a number (e.g., 1-4).
• Step 2: Pause instruction periodically to pose a question for students to consider.
• Step 3: Ask students to take a moment individually to answer the question and capture their answer on a small white board, index card, or paper.
• Step 4: Cue the groups to share and discuss their answers. They should decide which answer is strongest and ensure all group members understand and can explain the answer.
• Step 5: Randomly select a number 1-4 and the students in each group assigned that number stand up, then the teacher selects one student to share their group’s answer.
  • Guide a discussion, asking the other students if they agree or can add to that response.

Pairing whole group instruction with a cooperative learning strategy also makes sense when students enter a lesson with varying degrees of prior knowledge, but peer interaction can help bridge gaps in understanding. Instead of relying solely on the teacher, students learn with and from each other, reinforcing concepts to strengthen their retention. These interactions also provide opportunities for students to bring their unique experiences and cultural perspectives, making learning more relevant and meaningful. When students discuss new ideas with peers from diverse backgrounds, they may gain deeper insight into the material, be exposed to different perspectives and points of view, and have opportunities to connect their learning to real-world contexts that might not surface in a traditional lecture.

Small Group Differentiated Instruction

When students have different levels of prior knowledge, skill gaps, or varying degrees of language proficiency or mastery of the subject, small group differentiated instruction is an effective way to meet them where they are. Some educators may associate small group instruction exclusively with intervention; however, differentiation is not reserved for Tier 2 or 3. In a topic paper titled “Aligning Practice with Research,” Siegal, Hall, and Mesa (2024) state that “All students should receive Tier 1 instruction that includes high quality teaching practices. Differentiation using small groups should be considered one of those best practices and serves as a method for addressing the various needs students bring to the general education classroom.”

Unlike whole group or video instruction, which assumes that all students are ready to engage with the content in the same way, small groups allow teachers to tailor their instruction to specific needs, providing targeted support, scaffolding, and immediate feedback.

Small group differentiated direct instruction is particularly useful when:

• Diagnostic, pre-assessment, or formative assessment data reveal a range of skills in a classroom.
• Some students need additional scaffolding or a different instructional approach to grasp key concepts and apply specific skills.
• Multilingual students will benefit from language supports (e.g., sentence frames, visuals).
• Students would benefit from real-time feedback and guided practice before working independently.
• The concept or skill is foundational, ensuring mastery will prevent learning struggles later.

Small group instruction creates a more personalized learning experience, allowing teachers to adapt the pacing, model strategies, and respond to student questions in the moment. It also fosters stronger teacher-learner relationships, making learning feel more supportive and responsive.

By using data strategically, grouping students flexibly, and designing these instructional sessions intentionally, teachers can ensure that small group instruction is dynamic, differentiated, student-centered, and impactful—not just another version of whole group instruction with fewer students.

The biggest challenge with small group instruction is creating the time to work with students while the rest of the class is engaged in meaningful learning. There are two approaches that I frequently work with teachers on—the station rotation model and self-paced lesson design.

By intentionally designing lessons that create space for small-group instruction, teachers can meet students where they are in their individual learning journeys while ensuring the rest of the class remains engaged in meaningful, independent learning. This structure allows for targeted support and helps students develop essential self-regulation skills, such as time management, problem-solving, and responsible decision making. Students who take ownership of their learning—whether by rotating through stations or working through a self-paced lesson—build the executive functioning skills necessary for academic success and lifelong learning.

Wrap-up

Effective Tier 1 instruction doesn’t happen by chance—it requires thoughtful planning and intentional decision-making. In the first blog of this series, we explored how setting the stage for success begins before instruction by articulating clear learning objectives, assessing and activating prior knowledge, and differentiating entry points into the lesson. This groundwork ensures that when it comes time for instruction, teachers can choose the best format for delivering that instruction to maximize engagement and accessibility.

Tier 1 instruction isn’t simply about delivering content. It is an opportunity to gather valuable insights on the students’ learning and progress. How students interact with the new material, their level of mastery, and their ability to work independently or with peers provides essential data that can guide our instructional “next steps.” In the final blog in this series on Tier 1 instruction, we’ll explore how teachers can use what they learn about their students during Tier 1 instruction to identify students who may need Tier 2 support and those who are ready for enrichment and extension, ensuring that all students make progress toward firm standards-aligned goals.