What is Response to Intervention (RTI)?

Response to Intervention refers to a process that emphasizes how well a student responds to changes in instruction. The essential components to an RTI process are:

• Providing scientific, research-based instruction and interventions in general education;
• Monitoring student progress in response to the instruction and interventions; and
• Using these measures of student progress to inform instruction and make educational decisions.

Legislative Context for RTI

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004
IDEA 2004 regulations state that schools "shall not be required to take into consideration whether a child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, or mathematical reasoning." Further explanation justifying abandoning of the use of the IQ-discrepancy or "wait to fail" model, which had been standard practice prior to IDEA 2004, can be found in the Commentary and Explanation section of IDEA, which states:

The IQ-discrepancy criterion is potentially harmful to students as it results in delaying intervention until the student’s achievement is sufficiently low that the discrepancy is achieved. For most students, identification as having an SLD occurs at an age when the academic problems are difficult to remediate with the most intense remediation efforts. (Torgeson, 2001)

… The "wait to fail" model does not lead to closing the achievement gap for most students placed in special education. Many students placed in special education as SLD show minimal gains in achievement and few actually leave special education. (Donovan & Cross, 2002)

Also, IDEA 2004 states, "In determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, a local educational agency may use a process that determines if the child responds to scientific, research-based intervention…" (Section 1414(b)(6)(B)). In addition, "States ‘may prohibit the use of a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement,’ and ‘must permit the use of a process that determines if the child responds to scientific, research-based intervention as part of the evaluation procedures,’ and ‘may permit the use of other alternative research-based procedures for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability…’."

AFT Position

The AFT supports any educational practice or process that improves educational outcomes for all children. We believe that RTI, like many other educational initiatives, holds promise. Like many other educational initiatives, RTI implementation should be approached with caution, clear guidance from the federal offices of the U. S. Department of Education and the Office Special Education Programs, and a cohesive and collaborative plan of implementation with all educational stakeholders.