Chapter 2: Response-to-Intervention

A New Approach to Helping Students Most At-Risk for LD

Who is this for?

This chapter is for parents who know their child is struggling in school, but are unsure whether or not their child has a learning disability.

Why is this important?

This chapter describes Response-to-Intervention (RTI) - a comprehensive, multi-step process that closely monitors how students are responding to different types of services and instruction. RTI provides an improved process of pre-referral interventions.

What can parents do?

Parents can first find out if their school district uses an RTI process. If the answer is yes, then parents can learn more about RTI and ask key questions about how it will be used to help their child.

IDEA Words and Terms to Know

• Response-to-Intervention (RTI)

  A comprehensive, multi-step process that closely monitors how the student is responding to different types of services and instruction.

• Progress monitoring

  A scientifically based practice used to assess students’ academic performance and evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. Progress monitoring can be implemented with individual students or an entire class.

• Curriculum based measurement (CBM)

  Tools for measuring student competency and progress in the basic skill areas of reading fluency, spelling, mathematics and written language.

• Scientific, research-based instruction

  Curriculum and educational interventions that are research based and have been proven to be effective for most students

• Universal screening

  A step taken by school personnel early in the school year to determine which students are "at risk" for not meeting grade level standards. Universal screening can be accomplished by reviewing a student's recent performance on state or district tests or by administering an academic screening to all students in a given grade. Students whose scores on the screening fall below a certain cut-off point are identified as needing continued progress monitoring and possibly more intensive interventions.

As you learned in Chapter 1: Pre-Referral Services, provisions in both IDEA 2004 and No Child Left Behind are designed to encourage school districts to provide additional support for struggling students within general education. In this chapter you’ll learn about a process known as Response-to-Intervention (or Responsiveness-to-Intervention)(RTI). IDEA 2004 encourages schools to begin using a process that determines if a student responds to a "scientific, research-based intervention" as a part of the evaluation procedures to determine which students may have a specific learning disability (SLD) and need special education.

[New] The growing interest in RTI is closely linked to another significant change made by IDEA 2004 -- the elimination of the requirement for schools to determine that a student shows a "severe discrepancy" between intellectual ability and academic achievement in order to be identified as having an SLD.

Before IDEA 2004, a student could not be identified as having a specific learning disability unless a "discrepancy" was found in one or more of the following areas:

• Oral expression
• Listening comprehension
• Written expression
• Basic reading skill
• Reading comprehension
• Mathematics calculation
• Mathematics reasoning

This "discrepancy" requirement, which has been part of federal special education regulations since 1977, has been under attack for some time. Critics charge that the "discrepancy" approach requires students to fail for long periods of time before they can be found eligible for special education services. Equally important is the growing evidence that the "discrepancy" requirement is particularly problematic for students living in poverty, students of culturally different backgrounds and those whose native language was not English.

Relaxing the "discrepancy" requirement, which has been so deeply embedded in the identification of a specific learning disability, should lead to improvements in identification practices and better results for students.

What is RTI?

The RTI process is a multi-tiered approach to providing services and interventions to students who struggle with learning at increasing levels of intensity based on progress monitoring and data analysis.

The RTI process has the potential to limit the amount of academic failure that any student experiences and to increase the accuracy of special education evaluations. This could also reduce the number of children who have been mistakenly identified as having learning disabilities when their learning problems are actually due to cultural differences or lack of adequate instruction. Information and data gathered by an RTI process can lead to earlier identification of children who have true disabilities and are in need of special education services.

RTI vs. Pre-referral Interventions

As discussed in Chapter 1, many schools, school districts — and even some states — have established procedures for pre-referral interventions, which are designed to provide additional support to struggling students prior to referral for special education evaluation. However, little research has been done on the effectiveness of this approach.

Pre-referral interventions have frequently been used without close monitoring or documentation of the student’s progress. Monitoring and record keeping provide the critical information needed to make decisions about the student’s future instruction. If monitoring and record keeping doesn’t occur along with pre-referral strategies, the opportunity to make informed decisions about the student’s future instruction and intervention needs is lost.

Equally important, the adequacy of the instruction being delivered in the general education classroom where the student was experiencing learning difficulties has not usually been examined. Frequently, the instructional program being used in general education, such as the beginning reading program, is not scientifically based and does not have a high success rate for most children.

In contrast, successful implementation of RTI requires a number of essential components that ensure high-quality instruction, careful monitoring and documenting of progress and close collaboration between general education and special education.

Essential Components of RTI

According to the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD), the essential components of RTI include:

• Monitoring a student's progress in the general curriculum using appropriate screenings or tests (assessments)
• Choosing and implementing a scientifically proven intervention to deal with a student's learning problems
• Following formal guidelines to decide which students are not making sufficient progress or responding to the intervention
• Monitoring how the student responds to the intervention by using assessments at least once a week or once every two weeks
• Making sure the intervention is provided accurately and consistently
• Determining the level of support that a student needs in order to be successful
• Giving parents notice of a referral and a request to conduct a formal evaluation if a disability is suspected as required by IDEA

A Three-Tier RTI Model

While there is no single, thoroughly researched and widely practiced “model” of the RTI process, it is generally defined as a three-tier (or 3-step) model of school supports that uses research-based academic and/or behavior interventions. At all stages of the process, RTI should focus on discovering how to make the student more successful rather than focusing on the student’s lack of success.

A three-tier RTI model includes:

Tier 1: Screening and Group Interventions

Students who are "at-risk" are identified using universal screenings and/or results on state or district-wide tests and could include weekly progress monitoring of all students for a brief period. Identified students receive supplemental instruction, or interventions, generally delivered in small groups during the student's regular school day in the regular classroom.
*Images reprinted with permission of the IRIS Center (OSEP grant H325F01003) and the TN State Improvement Grant (OSEP grant H323A030007).

The length of time for this step can vary, but it generally should not exceed eight weeks.

During that time, student progress is closely monitored using a validated screening system such as curriculum-based measurement (see below). At the end of this period, students showing significant progress are generally returned to the regular classroom program. (Note: This step may be broken into two separate tiers in a 4-tier model.) Students not showing adequate progress are moved to Tier 2.

Tier 2: Targeted Interventions

Students not making adequate progress in the regular classroom in Tier 1 are provided with more intensive services and interventions. These services are provided in addition to instruction in the general curriculum. These interventions are provided in small group settings. In the early grades (K-3) interventions are usually in the areas of reading and math.
*Image reprinted with permission of the IRIS Center.

A longer period of time may be required for this tier, but it should generally not exceed a grading period.

Students who continue to show too little progress at this level of intervention are then considered for more intensive interventions as part of Tier 3.

Depending on a school's particular model of RTI, parents may or may not be involved in Tier 2. Ideally, schools involve parents at the earliest stages of RTI by explaining the process in face-to-face meetings, providing written intervention plans and requesting parental consent.

Tier 3: Intensive Interventions and Comprehensive Evaluation

Students receive individualized, intensive interventions that target the student's skill deficits. Students who do not respond to these targeted interventions are then considered for eligibility as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The data collected during Tiers 1, 2 and 3 are included and used to make the eligibility decision.
*Image reprinted with permission of the IRIS Center.

(Note: This part of the process may be broken into two separate tiers in a 4-tier model).
At any point in an RTI process, IDEA allows parents to request a formal evaluation to determine eligibility for special education. An RTI process cannot be used to deny or delay a formal evaluation for special education.

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM)

CBM is one way of tracking and recording a child's progress in specific learning areas. Using CBM, teachers regularly assess students' performance (e.g., each week) using very brief, simple tests. The results help teachers determine whether students are learning well from their instructional program. CBM results also provide the teacher with the information needed to tailor instruction for a particular student. CBM practices, supported by a great deal of research, are available in pre-reading, reading, spelling, mathematics and written expression for grades 1-6. Procedures have also been developed for kindergarten and middle school.

Written Intervention Plans

If your child's school is using an RTI process to address your child's difficulties, you should expect to receive a written intervention plan. This plan should include details about how the school is planning on helping your child. The written intervention plan should be fully explained to you and should include the following:

• A description of the specific intervention
• The length of time (such as the number of weeks) that will be allowed for the intervention to have a positive effect
• The number of minutes per day the intervention will be implemented (such as 30 to 45 minutes)
• The persons responsible for providing the intervention
• The location where the intervention will be provided
• The factors for judging whether the student is experiencing success
• A description of the progress-monitoring strategy or approach, such as CBM, that will be used
• A progress-monitoring schedule

The instructional interventions used as part of an RTI process should provide targeted assistance based on progress monitoring, be delivered by a highly qualified classroom teacher or another specialist and provide additional instruction on an individual or small group basis (with or without technology assistance).

The following practices are not appropriate instructional interventions and should not be part of an RTI intervention plan:

• Special or re-assigned seating in the classroom
• Shortened assignments
• Communications with the parent about the child at regular parent-teacher conferences or other informal communications
• Classroom observations
• Suspension
• Retention
• More of the same/general classroom instruction and/or assignments

As school districts work to improve the process of identifying students who have a specific learning disability and need special education services, parents need to understand the components essential to the appropriate implementation of RTI.

Use the list of Ten Questions to Ask about RTI to help guide you through the process.

Table of Contents

• An Overview of IDEA Parent Guide
• Chapter 1: Pre-Referral Services
• Chapter 2: Response-to-Intervention
• Chapter 3: Referral/Request for Evaluation
• Chapter 4: Procedural Safeguards — Understanding and Exercising Your Legal Rights
• Chapter 5: Evaluation: Learning More About Your Child
• Chapter 6: Eligibility Determination: Determining Your Child's Need for Special Education
• Chapter 7: Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) — Developing Your Child's Education Plan
• Chapter 8: Transition — Planning Your Child's Future Success
• Chapter 9: Students in Private School: Understanding Your Child's Special Education Options
• Chapter 10: Student Discipline — Addressing Serious Behavior Issues and Concerns
• Chapter 11: Dispute Resolution Options — Understanding Your Options for Settling Disputes

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*Images reprinted with permission of the IRIS Center (OSEP grant H325F01003) and the TN State Improvement Grant (OSEP grant H323A030007).

Note: The IDEA Parent Guide was created to provide a basic understanding of the key requirements of the federal law under IDEA. The information presented here is not legal advice and should not be used as a legal resource.

Candace Cortiella is Director of The Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit focused on improving the lives of people with disabilities through public policy and other initiatives. The mother of a young adult with learning disabilities, she lives in the Washington, D.C., area.

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Additional Resources

RTI Action Network