Special considerations with response to intervention and instruction for students with diverse backgrounds

Abstract

AbstractResponse to Intervention (RtI) has been heralded as having significant promise for improving outcomes, reducing disproportional placement in special education, and making education more culturally responsive for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) youth. This article reviews the major recent empirical and qualitative research findings with respect to its impact, particularly with regard to CLD youth. Extant policies are reviewed, in addition to best‐practice recommendations by experts in the field of culturally responsive RtI. The major conclusion of this article is that despite some recent high‐quality studies, insufficient research currently exists to support full implementation of an RtI model with CLD youth or those who have individual diversity. In many cases, researchers need to minimally disaggregate their findings and more clearly explain their samples and methods, moving beyond providing simple ethnicity counts as proxies for culture. Future studies should include fully described contextual variables and consider the science to pedagogical practice gap. In addition, outcomes for youth need to be documented as part of assessing whether RtI is having the desired effect on producing a more equitable educational milieu. Finally, additional research is needed in subject areas beyond reading and should be conducted more frequently with CLD adolescents. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.