Companion Resource · Layers 1 & 2

Teacher Quick-Reference Card

Five Tier 1 prevention practices on the front. The Layer 2 response sequence on the back. A 90-second protocol for what to do when behavior happens.

Companion to Tiered Supports That Hold: A Practitioner's MTSS Field Guide v.2.1 · 2026–27
ForwardEd Front · Prevention
Teacher Quick-Reference · Layer 1

Before the Bell & During Class

Five practices. Zero extra staff. Evidence-based. Done consistently, they reduce disruptive behavior and office referrals more than any response strategy ever will.

  1. 1
    Greet at the Door
    Stand near the doorway as students enter. Greet each by name. Precorrect what class needs today. Reconnect with students who struggled yesterday. Dose: 60–90 seconds at start of every period
  2. 2
    Precorrect at Friction Points
    Before transitions, group work, or independent starts: state the expectation and what success looks like. Name it before you need to correct it. Dose: 3–5 times per day at known friction points
  3. 3
    Opportunities to Respond (OTR)
    Keep students actively answering. Choral response, whiteboards, think-pair-share. Engagement crowds out misbehavior. Teacher talk under 40% of block. Target: 4–6/min new material · 8–12/min review
  4. 4
    4:1 Specific Praise Ratio
    Four specific praises for every correction. "You showed respect when you waited" — not "good job." Use a silent timer as a prompt to stay on pace. Target: ~6 specific-praise statements per 15 minutes
  5. 5
    Active Supervision
    Move toward — not away from — developing disruption. Circulate. Scan. Proximity is a Tier 1 intervention. Positive contact before corrective contact. Pattern: Move every 3–5 minutes during independent work
Before Bell Greet · Precorrect
Every 3–5 Min Praise · Scan · Move
Continuous Keep OTR Rate High
Cook et al., 2018 (PGD) · IES WWC 2024 (Precorrection) · MacSuga-Gage & Simonsen, 2015 (OTR) · Caldarella et al., 2020 (Praise Ratio) · Colvin et al., 1997 (Supervision)
ForwardEd Back · Response
Teacher Quick-Reference · Layer 2

When Behavior Happens

A 90-second sequence that preserves the relationship, captures the pattern, and keeps you teaching the rest of the class.

A · Redirect — Least Intrusive First

15–60 sec
  • Nonverbal cue first: eye contact, proximity, subtle hand signal
  • Private verbal redirect: quiet, named expectation, offered choice
  • Named expectation + logical consequence choice: "You can [X] or [Y] — your choice"

B · 60-Second Restorative Chat

60 sec
Two questions. That's it.
  1. What's going on?
  2. What do you need to get back on track?

C · Apply a Logical Consequence

As needed

Test: Can the student answer "What is this teaching me to do differently?" If yes, it's a logical consequence. If no, it's punishment. Examples: seat change · reset break · privilege loss tied to behavior · family contact · brief loss of preferred activity.

D · 30-Second Pattern Log

30 sec
Escalate to Layer 3 — not Layer 4 Same student, 3+ minor incidents in 2 weeks, or pattern across multiple classes? Flag for Friday batch MTSS review. Default Tier 2: CICO or 2×10.
Hot Tip

2×10 for Your Hardest-to-Reach Student

2 minutes × 10 consecutive school days of one-on-one conversation about anything but school or behavior — their interests, their life, their world. Wlodkowski's original research found an 85% improvement in target students' behavior, and the rest of the class improves too.

The rule: Don't press. Don't counter. Just accept whatever they offer. Monosyllables, shrugs, off-the-wall comments — all fine. You're building trust, not extracting information.
Skip Layer 2 · Go to the Office
Office-managed threshold: fighting · weapons · credible threats · drugs/alcohol · major property damage · sexual harassment · targeted bullying · assault · self-harm. Submit the 3-field write-up. Return to instruction in under 2 minutes. The rest is admin's job.
IIRP Affective Questions · Greene, 2014 · PBIS.org Major vs. Minor · Simonsen et al., 2008 · Wlodkowski, 1983 (2×10)
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