Press Releases

School Districts in U.S. in Early Adopter Stage for Response to Intervention (RTI) Says Spectrum K12

Only 2% of School Districts in the U.S. Have Fully Adopted

TOWSON, MD– April 25, 2007 – Only 2% of school districts in the U.S. have fully adopted the use of Response to Intervention (RTI) while 22 % are in the process of district-wide implementation and another 20% are piloting RTI and determining whether to adopt it, according to a survey recently conducted by Spectrum K12 School Solutions.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 provides school districts with the option of using a response to intervention model for early intervention for students experiencing difficulties. Using RTI can help districts identify students with learning disabilities sooner than they would otherwise and can help prevent students who do not have special needs from being mistakenly enrolled in such programs. IDEA 2004 authorizes up to 15% of IDEA funds to be used to provide services to students before they are identified with a disability.

Spectrum K12 found that among the school districts that responded to the survey, RTI has been implemented or will be implemented for reading (52%), math (24%), behavior (20%), writing (15%) and language (13%). In the majority of districts, RTI was initiated by the special education team with implementation championed by special education in 52% of the districts and by general education in the remaining 48%.

The Spectrum K12 School Solutions survey on RTI adoption was administered via a web-based survey between February 22 and March 26, 2007. Respondents were all district administration personnel (primary titles included RTI director, special education director, assistant superintendent). 41% of survey respondents work in districts with 2,500-5,000 enrollment, 15% in districts with 5,000-10,000 enrollment, 17% with 10,000-20,000 enrollment and 24% with more than 20,000 enrollment.

“Our recently completed survey provides unique visibility into how quickly, to what extent, and in what areas RTI is being adopted by school districts,” said Jim Marshall, CEO of Spectrum K12. “With this survey, Spectrum K12 continues its leadership in providing K-12 districts with information and solutions for managing students receiving special services or interventions.”

About Spectrum K12 School Solutions

Based in Towson, Md., Spectrum K12 School Solutions Inc. helps school districts more effectively manage the individualized learning process for all students receiving special services or interventions. Spectrum K12 works collaboratively with districts of all sizes to deliver scalable, easy-to-use software solutions that lift the burden of paperwork from education professionals so they can focus on the most important part of their work: educating children and improving student achievement. For more information and to download a copy of the Response to Intervention (RTI) Adoption Survey report visit http://www.spectrumK12.com.