RTI (Response to Intervention)

RTI is a structured way for schools to try increasingly focused help and measure whether a child responds. A struggling reader, for example, might get small-group instruction several times a week, with quick progress checks along the way. If the child catches up, the extra help did its job. If not, the school intensifies the support — and that pattern of "we tried this, and here's what happened" becomes valuable evidence.

RTI data can play a real role in special education decisions, especially for identifying a specific learning disability. In many states, how a child responds to well-delivered intervention is part of how teams decide whether a disability is present. That makes the data worth asking for: what intervention was used, how often it actually happened, and what the numbers show over time.

The protection to remember: schools may not use RTI to stall. Federal guidance is clear that an intervention process cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation for a parent who has requested one. "Let's try RTI first for a few months" is not a lawful answer to a written evaluation request — the school must either evaluate or give you written notice explaining its refusal, which you can then challenge.