Research Paper
Undergraduate
Response to Intervention (RTI): Models, Assessment, and Equity
Over the past decade, rapid changes have occurred in general educational practice to increase the focus on early identification of and intervention for students considered at risk. The aptly named response-to-intervention (RTI) model of service delivery is generally described as a multi-tiered model whereby students receive interventions of increasing intensity, with movement from one level to another based on demonstrated performance and rate of progress (Gresham, 2007). This sizable paradigm shift has been influenced in part by recent special education legislation, which allows the practice of RTI as an alternative to the traditional "IQ- achievement discrepancy" model of learning disability identification and allows 15% of federal special education funding to be allocated toward early intervening services (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 2004).