Discussion Question by Justin Schwender

Alexa Madden

amadd004 — 2025-04-28 19:18:39 UTC

RTI is a preventative method of SLD identification. If I were to compare the three major methods of identification, I would choose to use RTI over the other two methods. The biggest pro to using RTI, for me, is that it is used with every student, not just students who are labeled as at-risk students. RTI can help students who may not ever get intervention get intervention in their least restrictive environment.

Mandee Gaughan

mgaug002 — 2025-04-28 19:18:53 UTC

I think RTI is important as it helps identify students without basing it solely on their IQ, although it can take awhile as students need to move up and down tiers before deciding they might need an IEP or 504. I have never implemented RTI but in the papers we have read and talking in class RTI can take weeks if not months for any identification.

Micaela Lynch

2025-04-28 19:18:54 UTC

I think RTI is a really beneficial system that identifies issues early on and offers immediate intervention. The wait to fail model is less effective and causes more harm than good.

I think some places dont know how to implement RTI and that should be explicitly taught to be most effective.

2025-04-28 19:18:57 UTC

I think Response to Intervention (RTI) is a strong framework when implemented correctly because it emphasizes early identification and support before a student falls too far behind. It promotes the idea that students receive targeted interventions based on their needs rather than immediately being referred for special education testing.
However, some challenges I’ve read about include inconsistent implementation across schools, lack of high-quality interventions at Tier 2 and Tier 3, and delays in formal evaluations for students who truly need special education services.
Successful RTI depends heavily on well-trained staff, frequent progress monitoring, and clear decision-making processes to be effective.

bprit001 — 2025-04-28 19:19:01 UTC

RTI is beneficial for all students. RTI allows students to get the interventions they need to be able to succeed academically. There are many different interventions that can be used to benefit students in many different ways. It may be hard to use RTI for cultural considerations when you have different students from different cultural backgrounds in your classroom.

2025-04-28 19:19:04 UTC

Shows promise overall, still needs more research and active use so that we may learn more about the practice and the limitations of it.

MacKenzie Fletcher

mflet003 — 2025-04-28 19:19:14 UTC

RTI is a multi-tiered system of support used to identify Specific Learning Disabilities. Its goal is to provide early identification instead of waiting for students to fail, although people are questioning RTI as well. RTI provides targeted intervention with increasing levels of support. Out of the three identification methods, RTI is what I am most familiar with and what I would choose to implement. I like that all students are a part of Tier 1 instruction, and that the instruction becomes more intensive as students need more advanced, specific instruction that is targeted towards their needs.

2025-04-28 19:19:24 UTC

I think RTI is a great way to meet the needs of students who may be struggling. You can start off with a small change in the lesson/activity and increase the amount of accommodations being made as needed. I think it helps decrease the amount of labeling being made when determining the accommodations.

I have heard of some students being pulled out to work on some of their needs but I have never implemented it myself.

2025-04-28 19:19:29 UTC

I think that RTI is a more reliable intervention strategy based on everything we have read about the discrepancy model and RTI in this program. Although something that sticks with me is when we had the presenter in this class towards the beginning of the semester and she started that RTI could be argued as being a wait to fail method because of how long each student is in each intervention and the fact that they are not moved when the intervention may not be working. With everything there are negatives and positives. I think it really just determines what is going to work best for the student, what the school district uses to assess students, and if there are inconsistencies between different intervention types. Nothing is perfect, just use what you have to the best of your ability to help students as best you can.

hthom019 — 2025-04-28 19:19:48 UTC

This can help to ensure that all students have access to the benefits of RTI regardless of what tier the students may fall into. Even if a student does not qualify for an IEP, they are still able to receive the proper interventions.

RTI and Implementation

alail001 — 2025-04-28 19:20:12 UTC

RTI can be beneficial for some students but is not always the best fit for all students and teachers. The "wait to fail" model is not a great way to assess the students. It puts them even more behind their peers than they already are. RTI is good to assess the students but does go about it sometimes in an incorrect way. We have talked a lot about RTI and its benefits and challenges within many classes especially this class.

2025-04-28 19:21:13 UTC

I believe RTI is important and beneficial for students as it is focused on early identification. It's important to implement the framework properly to ensure that we are meeting the needs of students effectively.