Glossary · Teaching and intervention
What is RTI in reading?
Definition
RTI, response to intervention, is a tiered process for giving struggling students extra instruction and using their response to decide what support they need next.
The name says how it works. A student gets a well-chosen intervention, their progress is monitored, and their response guides the next step: continue, intensify, change, or step back to classroom support.
RTI became widely used in US schools after the 2004 update to federal special education law allowed schools to use a student's response to intervention as part of identifying a learning disability.
RTI isn't a waiting period. A student shouldn't have to fail an intervention for months before getting more help or an evaluation. Families can request an evaluation at any time, and schools can't use RTI to delay one.
In a lesson
A first grader gets Tier 2 phonics for ten weeks. His rate of improvement stays well below what he needs, so the team moves him to Tier 3 and talks with his parents about an evaluation.
Why does this matter for the record?
RTI decisions rest on the record: what was taught, how often, and the scores. A gap in the log is a gap in the evidence.
Rate each skill as you teach it
Needs support, Developing, Secure. The rating schedules the review and builds the report.