RTI is an integrated approach to service delivery that encompasses general, remedial and special education through a multi-tiered service delivery model. It utilizes a problem-solving framework to identify and address academic and behavioral difficulties for all students using scientific, research-based instruction. Essentially, RTI is the practice of: (a) providing high quality instruction and intervention matched to the students’ needs and (b) using learning rate over time and level of performance to make important educational decisions to guide instruction.

The Principles of RTI include:

1. Teachers who believe—and know—that all students can be effectively taught. All RTI practices are founded on the assumption and belief that all students can learn. It is then the responsibility of school staff to identify the most effective curricular, instructional, and environmental conditions that enable learning to take place and to provide the necessary resources to enable all students to learn.

2. Intervene early. It is best to intervene early when problems are relatively small and before students lag further behind their peers.

3. Use a multi-tiered model of intervention. To achieve high rates of success for all students, instruction must be differentiated in both its nature and intensity. A tiered model of intervention is one effective way to differentiate instruction.

4. Use research-based, scientifically validated interventions/instruction. NCLB requires schools to use scientifically based curricula and interventions. This approach ensures that students are exposed to curriculum and teaching that has the greatest degree of effectiveness. READ 180, System 44, and Reading Recovery are some examples.

5. Monitor student progress to inform instruction. The use of assessments that can be collected frequently and that are sensitive to small changes in a student’s performance is important in determining the effectiveness of instruction and intervention.

6. Use data to make decisions. A data-based decision regarding the students’ response to intervention is central to RTI practices. Decisions in RTI practice are based on the collective judgment of staff and parents and informed directly by student performance data. This principle requires two things: that ongoing data collection systems are in place and that resulting data are used to make informed instructional decisions.

7. Use assessment for three different purposes: a. Universal screening to determine which students need closer monitoring, differentiated instruction, or a specific intervention; b. Progress monitoring to determine if interventions are producing the desired results; and c. Diagnostics to determine what students can and cannot do in important academic areas.

Response to Intervention is better described as a “response to instruction.” It provides a triage process that allows for progressive increases in the intensity and duration of instruction for students who continue to struggle with the general education curriculum. Through this preventive process, schools can meet the needs of all students and reduce the numbers students inappropriately identified with specific learning disability.

Information about RTI