Models of Response to Intervention in the Northwest Region States. Issues & Answers. REL 2009--No. 079

Response to intervention (RTI) is a framework for providing interventions and services at increasing levels of intensity until students succeed. The framework helps teachers and schools provide instruction and interventions matched to student needs, monitor progress frequently to guide decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and apply data to important education decisions (Batsche et al. 2005). This report provides information on the response to intervention (RTI) models supported by state education agencies in the Northwest Region and identifies states' RTI-related resources, policies, and activities. The information will help the Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center focus its technical assistance for RTI and identify areas for cross-state collaboration, while enabling states to learn from each other's experience. Specifically, the report describes state-level efforts to support implementation of response to intervention (RTI) in the Northwest Region states--Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. RTI, an approach to improving education outcomes, focuses on monitoring academic progress and using assessment data to identify struggling students, modify instruction, and provide interventions matched to students' needs on a tiered, gradually intensifying basis (Batsche et al. 2005). The tiered RTI framework requires a research-based core program of curriculum and instruction that meets the needs of most students. The three research questions that guided the study and a brief summary of the findings are presented herein. The first question is on context, on what the state education agencies viewed as the purpose of RTI. The two primary research questions look at the components of state education agency approaches to RTI and at state support of districts' implementation of RTI. Four appendices are included: (1) The literature on response to intervention; (2) Study methodology; (3) Interview protocol; and (4) State profiles. (Contains 2 boxes and 19 tables.)