Articles

Response to Intervention: What It Is, and How It Can Help Your Child

by Amanda Morin

Are you worried that your child isn't doing as well in school as he could be? Do you feel he needs a little extra support in the classroom, but doesn't need special education services? If so, you should talk to your school about what types of Response-to-Intervention programs it has in place.

Response-to-Intervention, or RTI, is a relatively new concept for schools across the nation. It's a program designed to provide educational help to struggling students, before they are referred to special education. That's the "intervention" in Response-to-Intervention: catching kids before they fall too far behind. And the good news is that the intervention takes place in the regular classroom.

The RTI process is three-fold. In Tier 1, students whose teachers or parents think they need some extra assistance are screened and placed in small groups for additional instruction. After a few weeks, the teacher will do some testing to see how your child is doing and either graduate him from the small group or move him to Tier 2 for more intensive small group instruction. If, in another few weeks, your child is still not making progress, then Tier 3 provides one-to-one instruction and/or a referral for a special education evaluation.

Unfortunately, not all schools have put the three-tiered RTI process into place yet. But, as a parent, you can advocate for your child's right to such programs. Rachel Brown-Chidsey, PhD, RTI expert and co-author of the book Response to Intervention: Principles and Strategies for Effective Practice , thinks the more parents know about the process, the better it is for students. " I have yet to meet a parent who said no to RTI after learning that it means immediate services with data collection," she says.  "Getting parents supportive of RTI will only make it better to the children."