Lesson-3: Tier 3: Conceptual Considerations
Tier 3 levels of cultural responsiveness are less common than Tier 1 and 2. Tier 3 includes cultural responses with cultural adaptations and recommendations for individual students based on a psychological evaluation process conducted by a licensed/certified mental health clinician. Following is a cohesive and transparent methodology for measuring or documenting the impact of cultural responsiveness.
Tier 3 levels of intervention are applied less often because of a lack of appropriately trained clinicians. The evaluation and clinical documentation of acculturative stress levels meeting the criteria “marked degree” allow acculturative stress to be viewed as more like a disability within the learning environment, rather than an afterthought, or something individuals should learn to “deal with”. Additionally, individuals may experience high levels of acculturative stress originating inside or outside of the academic environment or workplace. Cultural responsiveness for the academic environment would be different if most of the acculturative stress was occurring in the workplace rather than the learning environment.
Tier 3’s focus is on the design and an individual’s learning style and how culture can influence students’ ability to learn.
Tier 3 is highly specialized and involves a screening or evaluation process. This process would also involve students understanding cultural responsiveness and understanding the levels to which it can support them in an educational environment if needed or wanted.
Tier 3 CRS Applications
| CRS Applications | |
| Tier 3: Who is involved? Students, Clinicians, Instructors, LODEIs | |
| What’s the Purpose? | Require 50% or more of cultural responsiveness to a course. |
| How will it happen? | Across all areas of education. |
| Types of Culture Academic Community Ethnic A.C.C.C.E. | Cognitive culture- This includes, decision-making, perception, attention, thinking, knowing, and understanding. (Instruction/Active Learning/Divergent Thinking). |
| Which students? | The students who have the |
| Ethnic culture and Intersectionality: Student engagement, motivation, cognitive and social presence, learning, and memory. (All Aspects) | |
Individuals experiencing acculturative stress are often sent to counseling or support professionals who are not reflective of themselves or their experiences. Most frequently, individuals experiencing high levels of acculturative stress, require cultural responsiveness to help decrease the acculturative stress. Instead, a Tier 3 model includes measured and specific support for students with high levels of acculturative stress.
Tier 3 Culturally Responsive Practices
| Domain | Common Practice | Culturally Responsiveness Practice |
| Content | General content with little cultural consideration | Content with the same learning goals, and different cultural viewpoints |
| Learner | Historical Learning Methods | Learning alternative ways of learning through a cultural lens. |
| Role of Instructor | Facilitate learning: Grading and critiquing of Eurocentric values. | Facilitate learning: Grading and critiquing of the cultural values and measures to support learning of content |
| Learning | Eurocentric methods of tutoring have unhealthy power dynamics. | Faculty and designers provide various culturally responsive methods to approach material via culture: problem-solving, validation, etc. |
Results of acculturative stress evaluations could be quantified and shared within the department of disabilities and institution with the permission of the individual to support culturally responsive supports in the classroom.