More than half of the states allow, or require, response to intervention to be used as a method to evaluate if students have specific learning disabilities.
But many states and districts do not have a way of determining if RTI has been successful in reducing the number of children identified as learning disabled. Districts also differ widely in when—or if—they seek parental consent to place children in a response to intervention framework, and how long the children stay once placed there.
This information was presented in a "poster session" at the annual convention for the Council for Exceptional Children, being held this year in San Antonio. (Poster sessions allow researchers to present preliminary, unpublished data from their work.) The RTI information will be included in a full report coming from Tina M. Hudson, a doctoral student in special education at the University of Kentucky, and Robert G. McKenzie, a University of Kentucky professor and the director of graduate study for special education there.
