What is Response to Intervention (RTI)?

Admin/ October 10, 2009/ Special Features

By Barbara Resnick, MS,
Educational Specialist/School Liaison

This is the last of a three-part series designed to educate and assist parents as they work with their child’s school in securing assessment and services relative to special needs. Part I focused on the various stages related to conducting a psychoeducational assessment battery. Part II, explained how eligibility for special education services is determined and described the various forms included in an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). Part III will address the topic of “Response to Intervention”.

Parents who feel their child is experiencing academic, emotional or social difficulties often ask for school support. They may mention their concerns at a parent teacher conference or more formally, request a special services meeting from the principal, school psychologist, case coordinator or district special education administrator. Often, the parents’ goal is to have a comprehensive case study evaluation completed as soon as possible, leading to remediation and assistance provided through an IEP. However, a school system may opt to utilize Response to Intervention (RTI) to meet the needs of a child prior to determining if testing and IEP support are necessary.

What is RTI?

RTI is a method of academic and intervention designed to provide immediate support to children who are experiencing difficulties in daily classroom learning. It can be thought of as a multi-tiered service delivery system. Ideally, it is the goal of every classroom to provide scientific, research-based instruction monitored by frequent curriculum-based measurement to assure students are performing at the expected level. A systematic method of data collection is conducted by the teacher or other educator to determine which students are responding to those interventions. Any system of Response to Intervention should include appropriate academic and behavioral interventions as needed by the student and should include reading, writing, and mathematics.

The role of the support team is to identify and analyze the problem and recommend interventions that have proven successful with other struggling students. The classroom teacher is asked to modify instruction, implementing the suggested strategies and then carefully monitor progress.

Typically each level of intervention lasts from 9–12 weeks with data collection completed regularly, e.g., weekly to three times per week. If the child’s skills improve, the intervention is considered successful. If the intervention is not yielding the desired results, more intense help may be necessary. The team would then reconvene and recommend the child receive the next level of support, possibly from a teacher trained in remediation or special education. RTI support can be provided through an inclusive model within the general education classroom or in a small group or one-to-one setting.

At any time during the tiers, if the student is suspected of having a disability the student should be referred for a case study evaluation. It is critical that you as a parent understand that while a child is in Response to Intervention the only right that you have is the right to request in writing a case study evaluation. Once an evaluation has been completed, in order for a child to be eligible under the categorization of a Specific Learning Disability, the team must be able to answer “yes” to the following questions:

  1. Is the child progressing at a significantly slower rate than expected or is the student currently making an acceptable rate of progress but only because of the intensity of the intervention that is being provided?
  2. Is the child’s performance significantly below the performance of peers or expected standards?
  3. Are the child’s needs in any areas of concern significantly different from the needs of typical peers and of an intensity or type that exceed general education resources?

The team also must be able to identify the school performance areas that are affected by the Specific Learning Disability, i.e., reading decoding, math calculation. Using the RTI model, the team is better able to determine if the child is making an acceptable rate of progress because of the intensity of the interventions that have already been implemented. If the interventions are successful, they will be continued under an IEP.

Why RTI?

In 2004, Congress made changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA 2004). A new procedure was implemented as an alternative to identifying learning disabilities using the ability-achievement discrepancy model. This method of identification frequently limited the number of children who qualified for service. Prior to 2004, a student was labeled as having a learning disability only if a significant discrepancy existed between his/her IQ score and academic achievement as measured by standardized tests. After undergoing an evaluation, a child demonstrating this discrepancy could then qualify for individual or small group support delivered by a special education teacher, usually outside of the mainstream classroom. Often, a great deal of time intervened between when a child was referred and when he/she received help. Additionally, this method of serving students can be quite costly for a school system to deliver.

Congress determined that schools and students would be better served if resources were shifted from supporting only those children who demonstrated a discrepancy between their ability and achievement and instead adopted Response to Intervention. Implementing the RTI model would enable far more children to receive assistance quickly and efficiently. In particular, RTI benefits those students who do not meet the discrepancy model criteria yet are struggling in the classroom. The goal of Response to Intervention is to prevent academic failure through early identification, data collection and intervention

Pros and Cons of RTI?

As previously mentioned, a key benefit of RTI is that more children can immediately receive support, rather than waiting for a case-study evaluation to be completed. and it is more cost effective for the district. Data is collected routinely, not only for struggling students, but all children within the classroom. In my role as school liaison, I have attended several school meetings recently where RTI has been implemented. One child who had transferred from a parochial to a public school was immediately given reading support from the special education teacher. Another received reading and writing service from the learning resource specialist while the school completed their evaluation.

One of the major disadvantages of RTI is that children who are performing at grade level are not identified. In the discrepancy model, a very bright child who was receiving a “C” could qualify for service because he/she was not performing at expectancy level. These children are not identified as “struggling” and are not referred to the school-based support team. Parents who bring these concerns to the school or even provide a private evaluation may be told that their child does not meet the criteria of a specific learning disability.

Many school systems have not yet in-serviced their staff in RTI, even though they are expected to implement it. Teachers may not be adequately trained to execute the research-based instruction required to collect accurate data or have the time to do the data collection. As practices change according to RTI, general education teachers are becoming more familiar with providing specific strategies for students in their classroom utilizing RTI methodologies. .There are no formal measures currently used for the identification of students who need support in math or written expression.

As more and more districts shift to the Response to Intervention model, practitioners will evaluate its effect on all students, not just those experiencing academic challenges. Historically, in education, different philosophies and curricular techniques have been put into practice, tested, discontinued and at times reinstituted. This is even more prevalent in special education, where both federal and state laws legislate methodology. Regardless of the trend, it is every parent’s hope that their son or daughter will be provided with the education needed for them to grow and thrive academically, emotionally and socially.

About the author: as an RNBC Educational Services Department team member, Barbara Resnick, M.S. has worked as Educational Specialist at RNBC for five years. Before coming to Rush, Barbara was a Learning Disability Specialist in the Evanston School System. Barbara has worked with many families to help them better understand their child’s educational differences as they pertain to the school setting and how to work effectively with the schools to secure the appropriate supports.

Contact the Learning Disabilities Association of Illinois for a copy of The Parent’s Guide to Response to Intervention, which was referenced for this article, by phone at (708) 430–7LDA or by email at LDAofIL@ameritech.net

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