This posting is the final part of a four part series, aimed at sharing high-impact ideas and practices for consideration in relation to Establishing a District Collaborative Response. The following blogs make up the series and should be explored in this order:
- Establishing a District Collaborative Response
- Using Data to Inform a District Collaborative Response
- Conducting a District Collaborative Team Meeting
- Creating a District Continuum of Supports
In the final installment of our series on Establishing a District Collaborative Response, we focus on building a Continuum of Supports—a critical framework for ensuring schools receive consistent, tiered, and responsive assistance aligned with district priorities. Just as schools establish a tiered system of supports to meet the diverse needs of students, districts create their own continuum to effectively support schools. This blog outlines how to define and implement three tiers of district-level support, ranging from universal strategies accessible to all schools to additional and targeted supports for schools requiring more direct assistance. By clearly articulating these tiers, districts can create a sustainable, scalable system that endures through leadership transitions and continues to drive growth and improvement.
In the blog Establishing a District Collaborative Response, we shared the purpose, function and first steps to creating a district framework for supporting schools which is modeled after the Collaborative Response established in schools to support students.
Collaborative Response is composed of three foundational components; Collaborative Structures and Processes, Data and Evidence and Continuum of Supports. Our primary focus in this blog is to clearly define the process and function of developing a continuum of supports for supporting schools.
Working with a number of school divisions, we’ve been using the same foundations within Collaborative Response to create an effective system of supports for schools while directing and deploying a divisional team to respond to the needs of each school based on district priorities and school needs. There are three essential components to this work and as you can guess, they parallel the three foundational components of Collaborative Response.
Our final exploration of Establishing a District Collaborative Response is the establishment of a continuum of supports.
Continuum of Supports
The establishment of a continuum of supports is essential for all schools, to organize, articulate and tier the strategies, accommodations and interventions available to support the diverse needs of students in each school. A comprehensive continuum of supports, developed and refined over time, helps to inform the collective question "so now what should we do?" and ensures the tiering of supports, not students.
A similar approach is taken at the district level to articulate the tiers of support that are essential in supporting the needs of each school with one crucial adjustment. The divisional tiers of support include three tiers rather than the four tiers we suggest at the school level.
The intention of the supports that are established or are available at the district level is to help support growth in priority areas for schools. The supports that are articulated become considerations when determining how best to respond to the needs of schools and can ensure as transitions happen within the district leadership team, how we support schools achieve success in our priority areas can endure beyond any senior leadership team.
The district continuum of supports is intentionally designed to:
- Organize responses as support for schools to grow in divisional priority areas
- Increasing intensity as needed
- Reinforces sustainability and leadership transitions
- Models process being lived in schools
Tier 1 is the provision of universal supports for all schools to ensure a unified and strategic system from the district to align priorities, ensure common understanding and common language across all schools regardless of the priority. An example of Tier 1 would be the leadership meetings established across the division throughout the school year for school leaders. Tier 1 is composed of your non-negotiables provided by all and accessed by all.
Tier 2 focuses on additional supports that could be accessed by schools or suggested to schools to help support a priority area. This level ensures that we have a number of specific strategies that we could employ depending on our understanding of the school’s needs. These supports may be specific to the priority area.
Tier 3 is focused on supports that may require more intensive or directed support. This may require additional resources or coordination of several district team members.
Just as the development of the continuum of supports in schools begins with a question and many sticky notes, so does the development at the district level to create a continuum. However, the question differs slightly. We begin with ‘What are all the things we do as a divisional team to support schools in relation to (district priority)?’. Below is an example from a school division focused on Collaborative Response implementation across all schools.
We guide leaders to reflect personally and make note of all the ideas, strategies or supports that are currently used when supporting schools. Each team member makes note of their bank of strategies by naming one idea on a single post-it note. We then begin to share those ideas and to articulate which Tier of support each strategy fits. Taking time to note and discuss common ideas and perhaps strategies that are singular.
Please refer to the Divisional Collaborative Response Workbook to reference the template for Divisional Tiers of Support.
Using the template provided in the Divisional Collaborative Response Workbook, the supports and strategies can be added to the table to create a simple continuum of supports menu which then has value to bring forward into every conversation as a district is supporting their schools.
Although the development of a continuum starts with a simple question, its construction is never a one-time activity. For a district, a continuum of supports should be a living document that is constantly evolving and consistently being used for both collaborative conversations and individual support discussions to ensure every school has the support they need to be successful for their staff, students and community.
Establishing a Continuum of Supports at the district level is essential for ensuring that all schools receive the right support at the right time, based on their unique needs. By clearly defining three tiers of district support, districts can create a flexible yet consistent framework that offers universal, additional, and targeted supports when required. This approach not only strengthens the alignment between district goals and school practices but also fosters long-term stability and continuity—ensuring that the system of supports remains effective, even as leadership evolves. Ultimately, a well-defined continuum empowers districts to be more responsive, strategic, and effective in supporting school improvement and student success.
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