RTI May Not Delay a Special Education Evaluation

The U.S. Department of Education has recently released this memo to state special education directors. If a student is being evaluated with response to intervention tools, this may not be used as a reason to delay or deny an evaluation for special education.

This is particularly important for families who are just beginning the process of asking for an evaluation. RTI has become the first step of this process in many school districts and has been known to delay consideration for a special education evaluation until after the RTI process has been completed. For the child that needs more than RTI can provide, this has sometimes felt like a barrier to being approved for special education services. Therefore, this guidance from the Department of Education is important.