A Framework for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Design of Response-to-Intervention Models

Response to Intervention (RTI) was encoded into the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, and is being adopted on a wide scale as an alternative approach to identification of students with learning disabilities. For RTI to be an effective mechanism for addressing disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education, its focus must go beyond school and classroom implementation of academic or behavioral interventions to also address systemic factors that may be contributing to educational underachievement for students from non-dominant socio-cultural groups. This article offers a systems framework for culturally and linguistically responsive implementation of RTI, that takes into account the sociopolitical, cultural, and linguistic contexts of school reform efforts. Features that differentiate this model from current conceptions in the literature are described, and implications for implementation, research, and personnel preparation are identified.