Orientation · Domains
What is a domain?
A domain is one of five areas of student need that the rubric rates separately: Curriculum & Instruction, Behavior, Communication, Independent Functioning, and Personal Care / Health.
| # | Domain | The need it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curriculum & Instruction | Specialized academic teaching to access and progress in grade-level content |
| 2 | Behavior | Behavioral, emotional, and regulation support to engage safely in instruction |
| 3 | Communication | Support to understand, express, and exchange information |
| 4 | Independent Functioning | Help managing routines, organization, and self-management |
| 5 | Personal Care / Health | Physical care or health support to attend and participate safely |
Each domain ultimately gets a single score from 0 to 3, based on how its factors are rated. The five domain scores then combine into the student's tier.
A student isn't rated in all five domains as a matter of course. A domain is only rated where the student receives services in that area — and most students receive services in one or two areas, not across all five.
Rules that span the domains
Keep these principles in mind across every domain: a student's needs are compared against what's typical for same-age peers, and a single support normally counts toward only one domain.
Rate against same-age peers
Intensity is rated against what is typical for the student's same-age or same-grade peers. A support is only as intense as the amount by which it exceeds what peers of that age require. Two cases adjust how that baseline is read:
- Ages 3–5 (not in kindergarten): much of what these children need — adult-supported routines, hands-on help, developmentally typical behavior — is universal at that age. Rate only the supports that go well beyond what same-age peers require. Each domain page notes what that looks like for that domain.
- Students continuing enrollment after meeting graduation requirements: the focus shifts toward adult and postsecondary contexts — work, community participation, independent living. Each domain page notes the shift specific to it.
Don't double-count one support across domains
When a single support genuinely serves more than one area — most often a reduced ratio or a 1:1 aide — rate it only in the domain it's actually required for.
The rubric's own example: if a 1:1 ratio is required for independent functioning, and behavior and curriculum happen to benefit as a side effect, you do not also rate that ratio in Behavior and Curriculum. You rate it in more than one domain only if it's required for FAPE in each. The same logic applies to equipment: an AAC device is a Communication support unless it's specifically required to prevent behavioral escalation, in which case it's Behavior — not both, unless it's truly required in both.
Each domain page has its own "differentiating between domains" section for the boundaries specific to that domain.
Other parts of the rubric
- The four things rated inside each domain: what is a factor
- How the five domain scores become a tier: how scores become a tier
- The rating process, start to finish: how to rate a student