This study focuses on a problem of practice at George County Middle School, a 6-8 middle school located in central Kentucky. The achievement gap between English Language learners and non-english language learners continues to grow wider as students' progress through their educational career. As a result, English learners are being disproportionally placed in Response to Intervention and subsequently referred to special education. Pilot data showed that, teachers were lacking the necessary training to teach ELs and little knowledge of the RTI framework, which was determined through informal observations and interviews, examination of MAP testing data, and enrollment data for Response to Intervention, and an informal survey of math teachers. The primary factor driving this problem was determined to be that for a myriad of reasons teachers were not implementing quality Tier 1 instruction. This study explored the prevalent teaching strategies employed by Mathematics teachers in their Tier 1 instruction during a unit on algebraic concepts. It further investigated from the perspective of the teacher, how the affordances and constraints related to the implementation of quality Tier 1 instruction impact the ELs students within the RTI framework. Data was collected through semi structured interviews, guided by open ended questions that allowed for follow up questions specific to each participant. Data was triangulated using exhaustive classroom observations and unit plans from each participating teacher. Using Saldana's steps for coding, all interview data went through an initial round of coding, categorization of these codes, a second round of coding and then the identification of seven themes emerged from the data. These themes fell into one of three categories: teaching strategies, affordances to effect tier 1 student learning, and constraints that prevent tier 1 student learning. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]