The Tumit Model in Nunavut: How Student Support Levels Work

When you ask a Nunavut school about support for your child, the answer will eventually involve something called the Tumit Model. Understanding what Tumit means — and how it determines what help your child receives — is one of the most practical things a Nunavut parent can learn.

Tumit is the Inuktitut word for footprints. The Nunavut Department of Education uses it to describe a five-level framework for student support. It helps the School Team describe the type and intensity of support to request and document; a Tumit level is not itself an automatic entitlement or escalation duty. It does not by itself determine whether a child receives an SSA, a number of hours, an IAP or an IEP, or specialist access.

The Five Levels of the Tumit Framework

Tumit Level 1 — Universal Classroom Strategies

Level 1 is for all students. It describes the differentiated instruction and environmental supports that good classroom teaching already provides: varied instruction methods, flexible grouping, visual aids, structured routines. All students benefit from Level 1 supports whether or not they have an identified learning need.

Tumit Level 2 — Targeted Small-Group Intervention

Level 2 applies when a student needs more targeted support than standard classroom instruction provides, but the need is mild enough to be addressed by the classroom teacher using small-group strategies. Level 2 is about pulling a group of three or four students aside for extra reading support, or providing additional check-ins for a student who needs more scaffolding.

Do not assume a Tumit level settles documentation or parent participation. Ask what support is being documented and how you will be included.

If your child has been at Level 2 without making adequate progress, ask the School Team to review whether the documented supports remain sufficient.

Tumit Level 3 — IAP Development with SST Involvement

Level 3 is where more formal documentation may begin. At this level, the Student Support Teacher (SST) may become involved, and an Individual Accommodation Plan (IAP) may be developed for the student. Level 3 describes students with learning or behavioral needs who can achieve standard curriculum expectations but require specific accommodations to do so.

The IAP at Level 3 documents specific modifications to delivery or assessment format — extra time, a quiet testing environment, access to a scribe — but does not modify the curriculum itself. Courses completed under an IAP at Level 3 appear on the student's transcript without any notation.

Parents are part of the School Team and may accept or reject the ISSP. If you have not been included in IAP development, request involvement.

Tumit Level 4 — IEP with SSA Involvement

Level 4 is a significant escalation in the framework. It describes needs that may require actual curriculum modification — not just accommodation — and regular Student Support Assistant (SSA) intervention. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) may be developed to modify course competencies based on the student's functional level rather than grade-level expectations.

Level 4 supports require substantial SSA time. The IEP at Level 4 specifies exactly how many minutes per day or per week the SSA provides direct support, in which subject areas, and through what specific interventions. Parents should scrutinize these specifications carefully — vague language like "SSA support as needed" is not adequate. The ISSP should specify "SSA provides 90 minutes of direct 1:1 literacy support daily during periods 2 and 3."

Courses completed under an IEP at Level 4 appear on the student's transcript with modified course codes, which may affect eligibility for standard diploma programs and some post-secondary pathways.

Tumit Level 5 — Intensive Specialist Support

Level 5 is the framework's intensive category for students with severe cognitive, physical, behavioral, or multiple disabilities. It describes continuous 1:1 SSA support and regular involvement from external clinical specialists — educational psychologists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, behavioral consultants.

The challenge with Level 5 in Nunavut is that the specialist resources it describes are extremely scarce. An itinerant educational psychologist may visit a remote community twice a year. A speech-language pathologist may visit once. In practice, scarce specialist resources can make delivery fall short of the intensity described.

Parents of students whose needs fit the intensive category can consider the Inuit Child First Initiative for eligible specialist services, subject to approval.

How Tumit Levels Are Assigned

Ask the School Team how the proposed Tumit level was assessed and documented. Relevant information may include:

• Classroom observation data collected by teachers
• Academic performance relative to grade-level expectations
• Behavioral tracking and incident records
• Prior assessment reports (if any exist)
• Parent and Elder input about the child's functioning at home and in the community

The School Team can review this data, propose a Tumit level, develop relevant ISSP documentation (IAP or IEP), and present it to the parents for review.

If a proposed level appears to reflect available SSA hours rather than documented needs, ask the team to explain the evidence and review the proposed support.

This is precisely why parents need to ask explicitly: "What Tumit level has been assigned to my child, and what evidence and data supports that determination?"

What Parents Should Do With This Information

Ask for the Tumit level in writing. Any time your child has an ISSP meeting, confirm in writing what Tumit level has been assigned and what documentation supports it.

Track progress formally. Each ISSP should include measurable goals and a review timeline. If the goals are not being met at the current Tumit level, use that evidence to ask the School Team to review whether different or more intensive supports are needed.

Know what the framework describes. A Tumit level does not itself entitle your child to SSA support. If the ISSP specifies SSA support and it is not provided, document the non-implementation and ask the school to address it.

Challenge assignments that do not reflect your child's needs. If you believe the proposed support does not match your child's documented needs, request a formal School Team meeting to review it with specific data. If the School Team cannot agree, ask about the review process under Sections 50–51.

Understanding the Tumit framework gives you a practical way to discuss how supports should be requested and documented. The Nunavut Special Ed Advocacy Playbook includes the full Tumit framework alongside ISSP preparation checklists and the escalation steps for when the proposed support does not match your child's actual needs.

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