Moving Toward RTI: The Initiation, Implementation, and Institutionalization of a Response to Intervention Program: A Descriptive Case Study

Abstract

In the last three years, the number of special education referrals in the Longlake School District has risen dramatically. As more and more students have been referred for evaluation and then found ineligible for special services, the need for a systematic early identification and intervention system for struggling students has emerged. Response to Intervention (RTI) garnered attention as a proactive data-based framework for identifying students who are at-risk and providing them with research-based interventions. The district’s Board of Education recently approved the proposal to pilot RTI in one elementary school to address this issue. In this paper, as a special education professional, the researcher will analyze and discuss the RTI program that the researcher plans to outline in this school. This paper does not follow a regular research methodology including data collection and analysis. Rather, as a descriptive case study, it serves as a resource for schools that are considering RTI or that have already attempted to implement RTI with limited success.