RtII is an early intervening strategy and carries dual meaning in Pennsylvania.  It is a comprehensive, multi-tiered, standards aligned strategy to enable early identification and intervention for students at academic or behavioral risk.  As such, it forms the assessment and instructional framework to organize and implement PA’s Standards-aligned System (SAS) to improve student achievement and its school improvement process, Getting Results!   At a later date, RtII may be considered as one alternative to the aptitude-achievement discrepancy model for the identification of students with learning disabilities after the establishment of specific progress measures.  RtII allows educators to identify and address academic and behavioral difficulties prior to student failure.  Monitoring student response to a series of increasingly intense interventions assists in preventing failure and provides data that may guide eligibility decisions for learning disabilities.  The overarching goal of RtII is to improve student achievement using research based interventions matched to the instructional need and level of the student.

For more intervention on RTII in Pennsylvania, please visit http://www.pattan.net/teachlead/ResponsetoIntervention.aspx