Intensity of Services Special Education Funding Model Resources

State Guidance, ARD/IEP Supports

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Understanding the Intensity of Services Funding Model

Every student who meets eligibility as a child with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) must be determined to need specially designed instruction (SDI) in some way. Under previous funding structures, instructional setting (e.g., general education or special education classroom, home, hospital, off home campus) has historically played a significant role in how special education services were understood and funded. This new intensity of services funding model is intentionally designed to shift that focus from centering determinations based on where services are delivered, to instead emphasize the intensity of the SDI and related supports required for a student to access and make progress in their enrolled grade level curriculum. 

Intensity Tiers

To determine the tiers of intensity in the new intensity of services funding model, there are 5 domains for which an intensity level of support must be determined based on ARD committee decisions documented in a student’s individualized education programs (IEPs).

Determining levels of support and the intensity tier will be measured across 5 required domains:

  • Curriculum and Instruction,
  • Behavior,
  • Communication,
  • Independent Functioning, and
  • Personal Care/Health.

Each domain is evaluated independently using IEP documentation and considers 4 key factors:

  • the type, nature, and frequency of services;
  • whether a specialized provider is required;
  • whether a specific staff to student ratio is necessary; and
  • whether specialized equipment or technology is needed.

Domains are scored on a four point (0-3) scale, with the highest factor score determining the overall domain intensity.

Service Groups

In addition to intensity tiers are service groups. Service groups are designed to recognize that, beyond a base level of special education funding determined through the intensity tiers, some students require additional, measurable resources to implement their IEPs. There are five service groups in the new model. Service groups will generate additional funding. 

Resources and Guidance for Implementation

TEA has created the following resources to support school systems in determining the tier of intensity and service groups for their students. TEA also disseminated a To the Administrator Addressed (TAA) Letter on April 16, 2026, that should be used to support school systems with this new process and model. 

Special Education Funding Tool

The Special Education Funding Tool is designed to provide an interactive mechanism for Texas school systems to analyze a student’s individualized education program (IEP) and crosswalk those documented services into the new model. This tool will assist school systems in determining an intensity of service tier and service group for each of their students receiving special education services. Users should review each domain within the tool and use the associated dropdown menus for each factor to determine the student’s intensity tier. Users must also indicate whether the student also requires one or more service groups. Information collected using the tool’s export feature can be used in assisting school systems with their required PEIMS data collections.

New Intensity of Services Funding Model Framework

The New Intensity of Services Funding Model Framework is a PDF copy of the Special Education Funding Tool. The framework is set up to provide the user with information about the intensity tiers and the service groups. The framework walks through the entirety of the tool, providing a laid-out format of what is in dropdown boxes and popups on the tool. This easy-to-use framework can be used as a companion to the Special Education Funding Tool or as a stand-alone tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section is designed to support Texas school systems in understanding the new funding system and in using the Special Education Funding Tool. As school systems begin using the tool and new questions arise, this FAQ will be reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis to ensure it remains accurate, helpful, and responsive to user needs.

Additional resources will be added frequently so make sure to check the full section list for all available resources.

1. Policy and Funding Model Basics

1.1 Why is the state funding model for students receiving special education and related services changing? (4/16/26)

House Bill (HB) 2/Senate Bill (SB) 568 passed during the 89th Regular Session, which significantly shifted how the state will fund special education. The state is now transitioning from an instructional arrangement/setting-based funding model to a service intensity model, irrespective of setting. The service intensity model will more efficiently analyze and target student needs, as these are documented in their individualized education programs (IEPs), so that state funding is distributed based on the intensity of individual needs rather than the classroom or setting. 

1.2 What is the new funding system? (4/16/26)

The new funding system is based on the determination of a tier of intensity for an individual student, which is inherently based on the services documented in the student’s IEP as necessary for the student to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Additionally, the system accounts for service groups, which are add-on ancillary amounts that reflect extra services that are not directly built into the foundational tier determinations. There are eight tiers of intensity and five service groups. 

1.3 What is the difference between the tiered funding system and the current instructional arrangement system? (4/16/26)

The primary difference is that the new funding system is targeting the student’s special education service needs unrelated to the setting in which they are receiving them. Instructional arrangements are currently calculated based on the percentage of the school day a student spends in a special education setting, which does not always reflect the intensity of the special education services or the extent of services received by that student. The new tiered funding system will place a student within a tier based on how intensive their special education services are, as determined by the type, frequency and nature of those services; whether any particular qualifications are necessary for staff who serve the student; whether any required provider-to-student ratios are required when implementing those special education services; and whether any equipment or technology is required for that student to access the educational environment. 

2. Financial Impact and Transition Timeline

2.1 What impact will the new funding model have on my district’s special education funds? (4/16/26)

In the tiers of intensity framework, the lowest weight will be applied to students who are determined to be Tier 1, and the highest weight will be applied to students who are determined to be Tier 8. The law dictates that the first tier is for those students who receive speech therapy as their only instructional special education service, and tier 8 is reserved for students who are placed in residential placement programs by their admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee. The commissioner must adopt rules to determine how students are placed in the remaining tiers. Within service groups, which must also be determined by commissioner rules, a lower dollar amount will be applied to service group 1 and the highest will be applied to service group 5. 

As opposed to instructional arrangement/setting codes, where the Texas Education Code (TEC) and the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook (SAAH) define weights and contact hour multipliers and factors to estimate special education funding locally, the transition to the intensity of services model will require some adjustments. For example, the commissioner is required to submit recommendations for weights and dollar amounts to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) by December 1 of each even-numbered year ahead of the next biennium. 

The 2026-2027 school year will be a year of transition, and TEA will need to receive data before any estimates around weights and dollar amounts can be given. However, for the 2026-2027 school year ONLY, school systems will receive at least what they would receive under the instructional arrangement/setting system. 

2.2 Will we receive less money this school year based on the tiered funding level? (4/16/26)

While it is possible for a school system to receive less state special education funding once the new funding system is implemented, TEA has determined for this transition year only that school systems will receive at least the same amount of money they would have received under the instructional arrangement/setting system. The 2027-2028 school year, however, will run under only the intensity of services model. 

2.3 When will we need to start using the tiered funding and when does the instructional arrangement go away? (4/16/26)

In order for TEA to have a full year’s worth of PEIMS data during this transition year of both instructional arrangements and the new tiers and service groups, TEA has established the following requirements: 

  • Continue Instructional Arrangement/Setting Reporting: As in typical years, any instructional arrangement/setting codes indicated in the PEIMS Summer submission for a student will be carried over into the 2026-2027 SY until an end date is entered due to a change in the student’s individualized education program (IEP) that warrants a new instructional arrangement/setting code.
  • Add Tiers, Service Groups, and Minutes per Day in Special Education Setting: By the first PEIMS Attendance Submission reporting period (1st Six Weeks Attendance) due October 8, 2026, each school system is also expected to review a student’s IEP that is expected to be in place as of the first day of the 2026-2027 SY (i.e., the student’s most recent IEP that determined the necessary services for the 2026-2027 SY) and submit via PEIMS (1) the student’s tier of intensity, (2) any service groups for which the student qualifies, and (3) the average number of minutes per instructional day the student spends in a special education setting. Those will be reflected with a “begin” date of the first day of the school year. At the same time the tier, service groups, and minutes in special education setting will be entered at the beginning of the year, those data elements and the  instructional arrangement/setting code will remain in place with no “end” date until the student’s required specifically designed instruction (SDI), as documented in their IEP, is revised in a way that would impact their those data elements. Note: the funding tool (see below for more information about the tool) assists the user in arriving at the tier and any service groups for which a student qualifies; it will not provide space to calculate the average number of minutes per instructional day in a special education setting, as that does not necessitate the logic model like the tiers and service groups do.
  • Update when IEP is Revised: During the 2026-2027 SY, when an IEP is revised or developed that determines necessary special education and related services that would change the student’s instructional arrangement/setting code as those are currently calculated, the previous instructional arrangement/setting code will be reflected with an end date and the revised instructional arrangement/setting code will be entered, along with a begin date. Additionally, if the IEP revision affects the tier of intensity, service group, or minutes per day in a special education setting, the revised tiers, service groups, and/or minutes in special education setting will be reported with new “begin” dates – which will reflect the date the new services began or applied, and the previous tier of intensity, service groups, and/or number of minutes in special education setting will be coded with an “end” date. 

If school systems determine that clarifications need to be made or data errors need to be corrected after the first or subsequent PEIMS Attendance Submissions, they are able to make those corrections in the PEIMS Summer Submission due in June (first submission) and July (Summer Resubmission) 2027. 

3. Funding Structure (How It Works)

3.1 What are tiers in the new funding model? (4/16/26)

There are eight tiers of intensity. The first tier, which is required by statute, is for students who receive speech therapy as their only instructional service. The eighth tier, which is also required by statute, is for students whose admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committees place in a residential placement program. The remaining tiers will be determined based on the special education services that are required by a student in order to receive FAPE. Those services must be documented in the student’s IEP. Using the tools provided by TEA (more information provided below), a school system will determine the level of support needed by the student in five domains, issue that level of support a domain score, and then add those up to reach a composite score. The composite score is then matched to a scale that will list the applicable tier of intensity. 

3.2 What are service groups in the new funding model? (4/16/26)

Service groups are add-on funding for services that are known cost drivers for educating students with disabilities. There are five service groups, with service groups 1 through 3 grouped together and then service groups 4 and 5 grouped together. Service groups 1 through 3 describe the extent of related services that a student receives, and service groups 4 and 5 are for students who are assigned a 1:1 provider-to-student ratio for at least 50% of the student’s instructional day. 

3.3 What documentation is needed to assign tiers and service groups in the new funding system? (4/16/26)

In order to assign tiers and service groups, the special education services that drive those tiers and service groups must be evident and documented in a student’s IEP. The system is designed to reflect only those services required for a student to receive FAPE, as determined by their ARD committee and documented in the IEP. While reviewing the domain descriptions, you may think that a particular description “sounds” like the student whose IEP you are reviewing, but, unless you can find it documented in the student’s IEP as a service or specially designed instruction required for the student to receive FAPE, that description or rating cannot be chosen. 

That said, the intensity of services model is an entirely new way of funding special education. It may take some time for ARD committees to adjust to new ways of documenting a student’s intensity of services in relation to the ARD committee’s responsibility to offer FAPE to the student. However, a necessary goal of the intensity of services model is to establish calibration in the system, which means that every reviewer of the same IEP should arrive at the same tier and service group result. Therefore, even if a reviewer knows something to be true about a student when going through the exercise of determining tiers and service groups, it cannot be determined to be true unless there is evidence in the IEP showing that it is true and required for FAPE. 

Note that when you begin using the tool, the default for all factors is “NO SUPPORT REQUIRED FOR FAPE.” If the practitioner completing the tool cannot locate any information within the IEP that would support a minimal, moderate, or significant rating, then the “NO SUPPORT REQUIRED FOR FAPE” will remain the choice. When the practitioner is uncertain between two ratings, the practitioner will choose the lower rating of the two. 

4. Data Collection and Reporting (PEIMS/TSDS)

4.1 What are all of the data elements – both new and old – that we have to collect and submit around special education funding for 2026-2027 and beyond for PEIMS? (4/16/26)

Instructional Arrangement/Setting Code: School systems will continue to collect and submit this information according to the requirements of the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook for the 2026-2027 school year. Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, instructional arrangement/setting codes will no longer have to be collected. TWEDS - Descriptor 

Tier of Intensity: Beginning with 2026-2027 school year, due by the first attendance submission on October 8, 2026, the tier of intensity (1-8) must also be reported for each student. That will continue to be collected as we fully transition into this system. TWEDS - Descriptor

Service Group: If a student is eligible for a service group allotment (either 1-3 or 4-5), that will be collected and reported beginning with the 2026-2027 school year as well. TWEDS - Descriptor

Minutes in Special Education Setting: TEC 48.051 requires that the time spent in a special education setting and in career and technology programs be proportionately deducted from the regular allotment. The average number of minutes spent each day in a special education classroom/setting will now be a data element collected and reported for this purpose. TWEDS - Data Elements Details

Educational Environment: Beginning with each student’s annual IEP review in 2026-2027, a new data element called educational environment will be collected and reported. While this is not directly tied to state funding, whether a child receives some or most of their special education and related services in a general education setting or whether they receive those services in some type of specialized placement, educational environment is a required data element that must be reported by the state to the US Department of Education. Whereas TEA interpreted instructional arrangement/setting codes into the required educational environment elements for the Department, this new element will more closely resemble the specific data required by the federal government since instructional arrangement/setting codes will phase out at the end of 2026-2027. TWEDS - Descriptor

5. Using the SPED Funding Tool

5.1 How do I start using the special education funding tool and other resources provided by TEA? (4/16/26)

There are two primary resources a practitioner will want to access as they start learning about this new system. The first is what’s referred to as the special education funding tool. This is an online resource that has the logic of the tier and service group scoring built into it. As the user analyzes an IEP and interacts with the tool by choosing the applicable rating based on the documentation provided in the IEP, the tool will automatically calculate the tier of intensity. Similarly, based on the IEP, the user will determine if the student qualifies for a service group, the tool will automatically calculate what service group(s) is/are applicable to that student.  

The tool also allows the user to analyze multiple IEPs, save those tier and service group determinations, and export those saved records to an Excel file. The export to Excel will assist in tracking the information to report to those responsible for entering the tier and service group information into TSDS/PEIMS. 

Another helpful resource will be the framework narrative provided in PDF format. This information is also embedded into the tool, but many users may prefer to read through the narrative descriptions in this separate format. 

Each student’s IEP must be individually analyzed to determine their tier of intensity and any service groups for which the student qualifies. Therefore, it is very important to read through the descriptions of the domains and each factor every time an analysis is done.  

5.2 Do I have to complete the Student Section on the Special Education Funding Tool? (4/16/26)

The student section must be completed if you plan to save a record and export it to Excel. Note that the 10-digit unique ID is critical for TEA to receive if the school system plans to submit data to TEA outside of the TSDS/PEIMS process. In order to protect personally identifiable information, the tool allows for a local ID to also be entered rather than student names. 

5.3 When I use the funding tool, will it store my student information long-term while I work through entering my entire caseload of students over time? (4/16/26)

The setup of the tool does not have a way to retain previous sets of entries once you exit the tool because there is not a username and/or password associated with the tool. Before closing the tool after having entered a set of students, make sure to save the records entered on the tool, and then export to Excel and save that Excel file locally. 

Multiple Excel files can then be merged into one master file if keeping track by campus, or caseload, for example. 

5.4 Is anything automatically sent to TEA if I use the tool and save a record or export to Excel? (4/16/26)

No, TEA does not receive anything back after a user interacts with the tool. The tool is a mechanism to collect the required data, export and save the data to Excel, and report the data to TEA through TSDS/PEIMS. See question 5.5 on how a school system can send data to TEA to help the agency prepare estimates and projections for the Legislative Budget Board (LBB). 

5.5 Why is TEA asking us to send them data by August 14 when we are already required to submit the data via TSDS/PEIMS by October 8? (4/16/26)

TEA must send attendance projections to LBB by October 1, 2026. To provide sound projections, TEA would like to receive a sample set of data from Texas school systems by August 14. To do that, TEA is asking for school systems that have already determined tiers and service groups using the special education funding tool to create one comprehensive Excel file and upload it through a secure link. (Secure File Upload Link) 

5.6 Do we have to use the online Special Education Funding Tool to collect our school system’s results? (4/16/26)

No, there is no requirement for school systems to use the special education funding tool. A school system can use the framework document and create their own method to collect the data. TEA plans to publish a sample “TSDS/PEIMS cover sheet” that could be used electronically or on paper to start documenting the transitions from instructional arrangement/setting code, tier of intensity, service groups, minutes per day in a special education setting, and educational environment. 

6. Roles, Responsibilities and Support

6.1 Does each school system have to designate certain people or positions to collect the data necessary for the new funding system?  (4/16/26)

No, TEA does not require a certain person or position to complete the special education funding tool or otherwise collect the data necessary for the new funding system. The person who completes the tool/collects the data should be knowledgeable about the special education services the student is receiving as well as the service model for the school system. 

6.2 What if my colleagues have TSDS/PEIMS questions? (4/16/26)

For any questions or further clarification regarding PEIMS reporting, please enter a TSDS Incident Management System (TIMS) ticket or email TSDSCustomerSupport@tea.texas.gov.  

6.3 What if I have questions for TEA Special Populations staff? (4/16/26)

An email can be sent to spedfunding@tea.texas.gov. 

Contact, Training, and Supports

If you have questions regarding any of the information regarding the New Intensity of Services Funding Model, please contact spedfunding@tea.texas.gov

To register for any upcoming LEA webinars or to sign up for the Special Education Newsletter, please visit the TEA Special Education Webinars and Newsletters page.

Zoom office hours will begin on May 7, 2026 from 9:00 to 9:30 am and 4:00 to 4:30 pm. If you would like to attend, you may join using the Zoom meeting link.