ABSTRACT
With the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004, states and districts have been encouraged to consider responsiveness to scientifi cally based instruction and intervention (RtI) as one of many markers of potential eligibility for special education under the category of learning disabilities (LD). The reasoning behind this change is that RtI models have potential for improving academic and behavioral outcomes of struggling learners. By monitoring student learning, we should be able to provide help to students who need academic or behavioral assistance beyond what is available typically in whole group instruction and before students are eligible formally for special education. By doing so, we might be able to improve long-term outcomes for struggling learners and identify students with LD earlier than when we relied on IQ-achievement discrepancy.
