Understanding Response to Intervention (RTI)
Helping a child who is having difficulty in school is a concern of
parents and teachers alike. Everyone wants to see their child excel, and it can
be very frustrating when a child falls behind in class. Traditionally, children
having the most difficulty have been referred for an evaluation to determine if
they need and qualify for special education services as a result of a learning
disability. However, there is a growing effort in general education to provide
more targeted help, or interventions, to struggling learners before they either
fall too far behind or require special education services. This process is
called “Response to Intervention” (RTI) and the goal is to ensure that, whenever
possible, children succeed in their general education classrooms. It provides three tiers of increasing
intensity, using evidence-based interventions that are matched to a student’s
needs. Goals are individually
set. Continuous, objective
monitoring of each student’s progress during the intervention is conducted to
determine if they are meeting their goals.
What is RTI?
Response to Intervention emphasizes how well student’s respond to changes in instruction. The essential elements of RTI are: providing scientific, research-based instruction and interventions in general education; monitoring and measuring student progress in response to the instruction and interventions; and using these measures to shape instruction and make educational decisions.
What Role Does RTI Play in Special Education Eligibility?
IDEA 2004 offers greater flexibility to school teams by eliminating the requirement that students must exhibit a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement in order to be found eligible for special education and related services as a student with a learning disability. RTI is one alternative method to traditional ability/achievement discrepancy comparisons.
An RTI approach eliminates a “wait to fail” situation because students get help promptly within the general education setting before falling too far behind. RTI also has the potential to reduce the number of students unnecessarily referred for special education services because it helps distinguish between those students whose achievement problems are due to a learning disability and those students whose achievement problems are due to other issues that can be addressed in general education. Finally, parents and school teams alike find that the RTI student progress monitoring techniques provide more instructionally relevant information than traditional assessments.
What is RTI?
Response to Intervention emphasizes how well student’s respond to changes in instruction. The essential elements of RTI are: providing scientific, research-based instruction and interventions in general education; monitoring and measuring student progress in response to the instruction and interventions; and using these measures to shape instruction and make educational decisions.
What Role Does RTI Play in Special Education Eligibility?
IDEA 2004 offers greater flexibility to school teams by eliminating the requirement that students must exhibit a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement in order to be found eligible for special education and related services as a student with a learning disability. RTI is one alternative method to traditional ability/achievement discrepancy comparisons.
An RTI approach eliminates a “wait to fail” situation because students get help promptly within the general education setting before falling too far behind. RTI also has the potential to reduce the number of students unnecessarily referred for special education services because it helps distinguish between those students whose achievement problems are due to a learning disability and those students whose achievement problems are due to other issues that can be addressed in general education. Finally, parents and school teams alike find that the RTI student progress monitoring techniques provide more instructionally relevant information than traditional assessments.
