Response to Intervention

At the Midwest Instructional Leadership Council, we believe that a Response to Intervention (RtI) model of educational service delivery for all students holds great promise and the requisite research foundations to systemically reform education so that all students [including students from under-served populations, students of color, students experiencing poverty, students at-risk, and students with disabilities] achieve to high academic, social, and emotional/behavioral standards. 

On this page we provide you with basic, foundational information about Response to Intervention.  If you have questions or desire additional information, please contact John H Faust.

What is Response to Intervention?

There are many definitions of response to intervention (RtI) and all have similar components.  The two definitions that we favor follow:

Response to Intervention (RtI) is the practice of 1) providing high quality instruction/intervention matched to student needs and 2) using learning rate over time and level of performance to 3) make important educational decisions. 

Batsche, G., Elliott, J., Graden, J., Grimes, J., Kovaleski, J. F., Prasse, D., Reschly, D. J., Schrag, J., Tilly III, W. D. (2005).  Response to intervention: policy considerations and implementation.  NASDSE, Alexandria, VA.

Response to Intervention is the systematic use of data to most efficiently allocate resources.  VanDerHeyden, A. M. & Burns, M. K. (2010).  Essentials of response to intervention.  John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.

Core Principles of Response to Intervention (RtI)

The two resources identified above are good places to learn more about the core principles of Response to Intervention (RtI).  The core principles of RtI are identified below.

1. We can effectively teach all children.
2. Quality core instruction.
3. Universal Screening of all students.
4. Intervene early.
5. Progress monitoring for students with identified needs.
6. Implementation of increasingly intensive interventions based on student need.
7. Data used to make instructional, resource allocation, placement, and other important educational decisions.

 Our Beliefs about Response to Intervention (RtI)

1. We believe that Response to intervention is not another initiative - it is fundamental systems change that significantly alters the manner in which we do business in schools.
2. We believe that Response to intervention is primarily concerned with increased outcomes for all students and the support that administrators, teachers, and other education professionals, and support staff require.
3. We believe that we [educational professionals] possess the knowledge and know what skills are required to increase outcomes for all students - we know what to do.
4. We believe that in order to effect change, we need to focus on variables within our control.
5. We believe that we must evaluate our efforts in terms of student outcomes and in terms of our implementation efforts - an established process for answering the questions "How are we doing" and "how do we know?"
6. We believe that Response to Intervention (RtI) is a process where thinking is required.
7. We believe that a model(s) to guide implementation is important, but not sufficient in and of itself.
8. We believe that the model selected to guide implementation should address a) consensus, b) infrastructure, c) implementation, and d) sustainability.
9. We believe that short-term and long-term planning are required.
10. We believe that planned abandonment must be embraced. 

Stages of Response to Intervention (RtI) Implementation

Consensus Building

The stage where Response to intervention (RtI) concepts are communicated broadly to implementers and the foundational "whys" are taught, discussed, and embraced.

Infrastructure Building

The stage where districts and schools examine their implementation against the critical components of RtI, find aspects that are being implemented well, and gaps that need to be addressed.  Infrastructure building centers around closing these practice gaps.

Implementation

The stage where the structures and supports are put in place to support, stabilize, and institutionalize RtI practices into a new "business as usual" paradigm.