RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION AND LEARNING DISABILITIES ELIGIBILITY: A “BOUND TO FAIL” OPTION?

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), eligibility for services under the learning disabilities label has been criticized as perpetuating a “wait to fail” model [1] in which struggling students must fall far enough behind to become eligible, losing valuable instructional time, and often motivation, in the process. With support from experts, parents, and advocates, response to intervention (RTI) was inserted into the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004 as an alternative method of identification for learning disabilities [2]. Response to intervention as an assessment for learning disabilities is a tiered process that exposes the student to an intervention in the general education classroom, often small group instruction. If the student does not respond, special education eligibility proceedings may follow. However, RTI may not be improving the identification of students with LD for the following reasons: a) general education teachers may not be implementing the process with adequate fidelity; b) eligibility for learning disabilities may be altered under RTI with gifted and students with other disabilities being overlooked in the process; and c) school divisions may be risking compliance with IDEA and endangering parents’ special education due process rights. As such, RTI may be realizing a “bound to fail” option in special education.