Publisher: Reading Research Quarterly
Page Numbers: 108-117

Now that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act has been reauthorized, states have the option of discontinuing the use of IQ–achievement discrepancy formulas and using Response to Intervention (RTI) criteria as part of the special education identification process. This change has dramatic implications for culturally and linguistically diverse students who historically have been disproportionately overrepresented in special education programs. RTI models hold promise for preventing academic failure by providing support for culturally and linguistically diverse students before they underachieve. By offering quality literacy instruction in a supportive general education environment, the authors hope to decrease the number of students who are inappropriately referred to and placed in special education.