Response to Intervention

Response to Intervention, commonly called RTI, is a tiered instructional framework for identifying students who are performing below grade level and giving them early, systematic and increasingly intensive supplemental instruction, developed in part as an alternative to relying solely on a gap between IQ and achievement to identify learning disabilities. It operates through three escalating tiers: universal, differentiated grade level instruction for all students at tier one; targeted small group intervention for students whose screening results fall below grade level at tier two; and intensive small group or one to one instruction at tier three for students who have not responded adequately to tier two support, with students who still do not progress typically moving on to evaluation for special education. The field has increasingly folded RTI into the broader term Multi-Tiered System of Supports, or MTSS, reflecting an expansion of the same tiered logic beyond academic instruction alone.