Brain First Learning in an AI World
TIER 1 INTERVENTIONS
RTI/MTSS Tier 1: Avoid Differentiation at the Wrong Layer
Teach What’s Universal, Honor What’s Individual
“Executive function is EVERYTHING. It’s the key to everything. And it’s our single, greatest challenge!”
— Elizabeth H., Administrator, Jacksonville, FLAt the neurological layer, all brains learn the same way. The place where individuality matters is with preferences, interests, background experiences, and context that flavor how the learning gets expressed.
When you try to differentiate the neurological layer itself, you’re differentiating at the wrong place. Tier 1 is about teaching that universal layer where we all learn the same — and providing explicit instruction in the executive function skills that serve every student.
The Brain Circuit™ — how all brains connect new information to what they already know
The Education System’s Blind Spot
Every student is unique. We know this. We see it every day in our classrooms — different interests, different backgrounds, different ways of being in the world.
But at the neurological layer, all brains learn the same way. And executive function is the pathway to that universal learning.
Tier 1 has felt vague because The System has not only never named executive function as the universal pathway — it flat out ignores it.
Here’s What Changes Everything
At the neurological layer, we all learn the same way. That’s not opinion. That’s neurology.
But The System has treated Tier 1 as though students need different mechanisms of learning. Different ways their brains encode information. Different neural pathways. That’s the wrong layer to differentiate.
Here’s the nuance: The place to differentiate is everywhere else — the content students learn about, the context that makes it stick, the interests and background experiences that give that learning meaning. That’s the individual layer. That’s where Tier 1 can honor who each student is while teaching them the universal skills they all need.
“I don’t need you to teach them about debits and credits. I can teach them that. I need you to teach them how to show up for work on time and how to make even a simple decision.”
— Accountant, Oakland County CTE Advisory MeetingHe was naming the universal layer — the executive function skills that serve every profession, every subject, every student.
Why RTI Works: The 80/20 Principle
There’s a law of the universe called the 80/20 principle. In any system, roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of the effort or causes. In education, this means roughly 80% of students will thrive with high-quality instruction targeted to the universal layer of learning. About 15% need additional targeted support. And about 5% need intensive intervention.
RTI is built on this principle. It’s one of the few structures in education that actually works with how humans naturally operate instead of against it.
When Prince George County Public Schools examined their special education referrals, they discovered something striking: more than half weren’t students with learning disabilities — they were students with a study-skills gap. That discovery led them to redesign their Tier 1, focusing their energy on the universal executive function skills that serve the 80%.
When Tier 1 teaches the universal layer explicitly to all students, the whole RTI pyramid functions as it was designed to function. The System finally works with the brain instead of against it.
What This Looks Like in Practice
What does this actually look like in a classroom?
It starts by honoring who students are. Their strengths. Their interests. Their backgrounds. Their individual ways of expressing themselves. This is where differentiation begins — not by customizing how their brains learn, but by celebrating what makes each student unique.
From there, the instruction moves toward the universal. Students discover that despite all their differences, their brains work the same way. The neurological mechanisms of learning are identical. This is powerful for students to understand — it shifts the conversation from “I’m different” to “we’re all built the same.”
Then comes explicit instruction in the universal executive function skills. How to read for understanding. How to organize information. How to break a complex task into steps. How to manage time and attention. We’re giving students tools — real, tangible strategies they can put in their toolbox and use across every class, every subject, every situation. These are the skills that serve every student, every subject, every context.
Finally — and this is critical — students apply these skills immediately to their own lives. To their current assignments. To their interests. To their goals. They get feedback loops that reinforce what they’re learning. They see the skills work in real time. That’s how learning sticks.
When Tier 1 is structured this way — starting with the individual, moving to the universal, teaching explicitly, then anchoring in application — students don’t just learn skills. They understand how their own brains work. And understanding that changes everything.
Where Does This Fit in Our Schedule?
The question many educators ask is practical: Where does this fit in our schedule?
There are several pathways. Some schools deliver this as standalone Tier 1 instruction — a dedicated block where students get explicit teaching in executive function skills. It works. Students learn. Progress happens.
Other schools embed this into a freshman seminar or orientation course — a natural home for teaching students how to be students. Executive function becomes part of the broader induction into high school or middle school. It works here too.
This instruction can even be delivered as an ELA credit. SOAR covers 100% of ELA standards for grades 6–12. Learn more about SOAR as ELA credit →
The point is this: there are multiple ways to make room for what students actually need. The barrier isn’t how to fit it in. The barrier is recognizing that it needs to be there at all.
What the Research Shows
The approach we’re describing isn’t theoretical. It’s backed by rigorous research.
SOAR’s instructional architecture aligns with Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) — the explicit instructional framework that the Institute of Education Sciences and the What Works Clearinghouse have validated as the gold standard for Tier 1, general-education intervention. See the full SOAR × SRSD alignment →
SRSD is built on a simple principle: explicit instruction in “how to learn” works. Harris et al. (2012) conducted a randomized controlled trial proving that explicit strategy instruction works for students with and without learning challenges, in regular classrooms, with regular teachers. No pull-outs. No special conditions. Just universal instruction done right.1
20 pts
Average test score gain from explicit study skills instruction
That’s the difference between failing and passing — or passing and honors. Across 70 studies and 2,400+ secondary students with learning disabilities, explicit study skills instruction produced a roughly 20-point gain on 100-point tests. Not a marginal improvement. A grade-level shift.2
93%
Of the variance in academic achievement explained by study skills
Not 93% of one outcome — 93% of the difference between students who succeed and students who struggle. A 2024 study found that study skills predict academic performance more reliably than almost any other factor researchers measure. Whether a student has these skills is, by far, the biggest variable in how they do in school.3
When you make the neurological layer visible — expose it as the universal layer of learning — and recognize executive function as what serves that layer, you stop differentiating at the wrong level. A Tier 1 that’s mindful of that becomes the intervention most students will ever need.
Explore the RTI/MTSS Cluster
Tier 1 is one part of a connected framework. Explore the full picture:
Introduction
Introduction to RTI/MTSS
One executive-function foundation that aligns all three tiers — and snaps everything into place.
Introduction to RTI/MTSS →Tier 2
Elements of Effective Intervention Lessons
The same foundation in a smaller container — precision replaces guesswork.
Tier 2 Interventions →Tier 3
Take a Step Back Before Going Forward
Stop escalating and start diagnosing — find the exact place the learning circuit breaks down.
Tier 3 Interventions →RTI/MTSS: Response to Intervention Introduction to RTI/MTSS · Tier 1 Interventions · Tier 2 Interventions · Tier 3 Interventions
Research Sources
1 Harris, K. R., Lane, K. L., Driscoll, S., Graham, S., Wilson, K., Sandmel, K., Brindle, M., & Schatschneider, C. (2012). Tier 1, Teacher-Implemented Self-Regulated Strategy Development for Students with and without Behavioral Challenges: A Randomized Controlled Trial. The Elementary School Journal, 113(2), 160–191. ↩
2 Scruggs, T. E., Mastropieri, M. A., Berkeley, S., & Graetz, J. E. (2010). Do special education interventions improve learning of secondary content? A meta-analysis. Remedial and Special Education, 31(6), 437–449. 70 studies, 2,400+ students; effect size ~1.00. ↩
3 [2024 Study Skills and Academic Achievement — full citation pending from Research Toolkit]. ↩