In this video, Lorna Hewson describes the why behind a continuum of supports, how it is a foundational component of Collaborative Response and provides an understanding of the four tiers of response, critical when tiering supports...not students!
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. 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.
This overview shows the four tiers of support outlined in a collaborative response, how they connect to universal, targeted and individualized supports and a brief description for each tier.
Learn More
Access a number of resources and samples below, to assist in the construction and ongoing refinement of an organization's continuum of supports, as well as the eventual development of additional resources in relation to the key supports within a school.
Reflection Tools
The following tools can be used to reflect upon your structures and processes related to Continuum of Supports, as well as collect evidence to determine growth and impact over time.
| Reflecting on Continuum of Supports (School-Based) - Template - Template to reflect on considerations related to establishing and refining Continuums of Support at the school level |
Development and Refinement
It is important that schools engage in the co-development of their continuum of supports, involving the determination, articulation and organization of what they already do to support students across the school. This involves understanding the difference between interventions, accommodations and strategies.
Samples
| Continuum of Supports Presentation - Prairie Sky School - presentation developed by Prairie Sky School to assist staff in the co-creation of continuums for literacy, mathematics and well-being Copyright 2023, A. Sanghera - Prairie Sky School, Calgary Board of Education, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Dawson Trail School Continuum of Supports - early development of a continuum of supports at Dawson Trail School, where the school is intentionally building a continuum through their collaborative team meetings. When they suggest a strategy during these conversations, they intentionally add it to their evolving continuum as a starting place for development. Copyright 2023, K. Thiessen - Dawson Trail School, Seine River School Division, MB. Shared with permission. |
 | Peace Wapiti Academy Initial Construction - Photograph of the initial draft continuum developed at Peace Wapiti Academy, focused on academic and social-emotional supports. Copyright 2021, W. Gerard - Peace Wapiti Academy, Peace Wapiti Public School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| View additional development and refinement samples contributed by our partners |
After your continuum of supports has been established, the continual refinement is necessary to ensure this document is living and having direct impact on your Collaborative Response. The narrowing of Tier 1 practises provides the opportunity for every teacher in every classroom to establish common practices for all students as well as create a common understanding of those practices.
In this on-demand workshop, Lorna will share 5 considerations for refining Tier 1 supports to establish your big rocks that form common practises across the school.
Menus of Support
Creating a visual collection of supports for each area of focus in a school provides an accessible menu that can be referred to during collaborative team meetings, as well as help to clarify what are the Tier 1, 2, 3, and 4 supports to be considered when supporting students. Consider the development of a continuum for each area of focus being attended to in your school (literacy, numeracy, social-emotional, student engagement, etc.).
Samples
| Social Emotional Continuum of Supports - developed by the staff at Woodbridge Farms Elementary, this continuum of supports focused on supporting social emotional success for students. Copyright 2024, K. Huk - Woodbridge Farms Elementary School, Elk Island Public Schools, AB. Shared with permission. |
 | Continuum of Supports - Behaviour - developed by the staff at Taber Christian High School, this continuum focuses on behaviour supports with three Tier 1 foundations and specific areas of focus that contribute to Tier 2. Copyright 2023, M. Bekkering - Taber Christian High School, Horizon School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Continuum of Supports - Attendance - developed by the staff at Roland Michener Secondary School, this continuum focuses on attendance supports with three Tier 1 big rocks to be established in every classroom across the school. Copyright 2024, K. Herbert - Roland Michener Secondary School, High Prairie School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| ESL Continuum of Supports - St. Patrick's Community School - supports directly in relation to supporting English as Second Language learners, aligned with language benchmark levels. Copyright 2024, S. Wing, Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, AB. and Ciara Smith, Elk Island Catholic Schools. Shared with permission. |
| Continuum of Supports - Bassano School - this continuum includes links to further resources for staff, as well as a suggested "flow" of support and response from Universal to Intensive for students. Copyright 2024, B. Goldie - Bassano School, Grasslands School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Mathematics Continuum of Supports - Prairie Sky School - continuum of supports developed for mathematics, with corresponding continuums also developed by the school in literacy and well-being. Copyright 2023, A. Sanghera - Prairie Sky School, Calgary Board of Education, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Early Learning Menu of Supports - continuum of supports developed by Grasslands Public Schools Copyright 2023, E. Norish - Grasslands Public Schools, Brooks, AB Shared with permission |
 | Early Learning Menu of Supports (11x17) - continuum of supports in 11x17 format developed by Grasslands Public Schools Copyright 2023, E. Norish - Grasslands Public Schools, Brooks, AB Shared with permission |
| Executive Functioning Continuum - continuum developed at James S. McCormick School, focused on executive functioning for their primary population. Copyright 2023, T. Duckett - Ecole James S. McCormick School, Wolf Creek Public Schools, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Continuum of Supports (Literacy) - Ecole Notre Dame Elementary designed this literacy continnum using Google Slides which includes their assessments and their description of each tier as well as expanded supports at each tier. Copyright 2023, R. Reid - Ecole Notre Dame Elementary, Lakeland Catholic School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Valley View School Holistic Collaborative Continuum of Supports - developed by Valley View School Copyright 2023, S. Kornelson - Valley View School, Calgary Board of Education, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Clear Vista Well-Being Continuum of Supports - developed by Clear Vista School Copyright 2022, T. Van Someren - Clear Vista School, Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Whitecourt Central Numeracy Continuum of Supports - Numeracy Continuum of Supports developed by Whitecourt Central School Copyright 2022, T. McKeever - Whitecourt Central School, Northern Gateway Public Schools, AB. Shared with permission |
| Whitecourt Central Social/Emotional Continuum of Supports - Social/Emotional Continuum of Supports developed by Whitecourt Central School Copyright 2022, T. McKeever - Whitecourt Central School, Northern Gateway Public Schools, AB. Shared with permission |
 | E.G. Wahlstrom Continuum of Supports - Behaviour Continuum of Supports developed by E.G. Wahlstrom School. Copyright 2022, A. Ghostkeeper - E.G. Wahlstrom School, High Prairie School Division, AB Shared with permission. |
| Kildare School Pyramid of Reading Supports - Overview of Reading Supports developed by Kildare School, to support collaborative team meeting conversations and determine classroom and school-based supports to consider in relation to reading. Copyright 2020, T. Jeske - Kildare School, Edmonton Public Schools, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Continuum of Supports Sample (Literacy) - Continuum of Supports adapted from a school that shows Interventions, Strategies and Accommodations in a placemat format for literacy. Copyright 2021, N. Moir - Whitecourt Central School, Northern Gateway Public Schools, AB. Shared with permission. |
 | Continuum of Supports Sample - Continuum of Supports developed by Crescent Heights High School, with links to valuable resources in relation to a number of the supports at all tiers. Copyright 2020, S. Barth - Crescent Heights High School, Medicine Hat Public School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Continuum of Supports Sample - Continuum of Supports developed by Herald School, with a myriad of supports at each tier and links for many. Copyright 2020, K. Corbett - Herald School, Medicine Hat Public School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Behaviour Continuum of Supports Sample - Behaviour Continuum of Supports developed by Kisipatinahk School. Copyright 2021, L. Ouellette - Kisipatinahk School, Maskwacîs Education Schools Commission, AB. Shared with permission. |
 | Continuum of Supports Sample - 1 page Continuum of Supports developed by Memorial Composite High School. Copyright 2020, C. Jensen - Memorial Composite High School, Parkland School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| View additional menus of support samples contributed by our partners. |
A continuum of supports is a robust resource to inform collaborative conversations and articulate supports to be considered when responding to the needs of students. Although the development of a continuum starts with the simple question “What do we do when a student struggles with reading/writing/numeracy/wellness?”, its construction is never a one-time activity. As a school (or district), a continuum of support is a living document that is constantly evolving and consistently being used by staff, both in collaborative conversations and individual programming.
In this on-demand workshop, Lorna will share 10 considerations; five strategies for refining your continuums of supports and five ideas for utilizing your continuums.
Expanding and Refining Supports
Providing descriptive overviews and other resources in relation to supports can assist staff in understanding, utilizing and in time refining the most highly impactful supports for students. In time, this can deepen clarity for supports, as well as clearly articulate how specific supports can be used to ensure success for students and how Tier 1 universal practices can be reinforced across the school.
Samples
| Continuum of Supports Checklist - shared by Memorial Composite High School, this checklist helps teachers track the Tier 1 and 2 supports being put in place for students in the classroom. Copyright 2023, C. Jensen - Memorial Composite High School, Parkland School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| Beaverlodge Tier 2 Supports Overview - Explanations for key Tier 2 supports used frequently to support students at Beaverlodge Regional High School. |
 | Tier 2 Overview - Discovery Cards Sample - Overview description for a Tier 2 support in a sample school, showing an overview of the support, resources needed and additional notes related to the use of the support in the classroom. |
| PWEC Playbook - A guiding document for Peace Wapiti Enterprise Centre, an alternate education school that uses the playbook to assist their conversations when determining how best to support student success. Copyright 2020, K. Thon - Peace Wapiti Enterprise Centre, Peace Wapiti School Division, AB. Shared with permission. |
| View additional expanding and refining supports samples contributed by our partners |
In this Leading Collaborative Response podcast episode, Lorna discusses strategies for refining and utilizing a continuum of supports, with multiple resources and strategies included.
Access Episode
Planning Interventions
Designing structures for delivering school-wide interventions requires planning and coordination. From determining focus, resources and processes for providing intervention to establishing blocks within the school timetable, the delivery of interventions can be woven into how the school ensures success for all students.
Samples
| BLAST Lesson Plan - Advanced Blends - Sample four week lesson plan from a school's literacy intervention program, with BLAST standing for "Basic Literacy Acquisition Skills Time" |
| View additional planning interventions samples contributed by our partners |
300+ resources and templates are available in the Collaborative Response Membership!