In education, Response To Intervention (RTI) involves examining the performance of individuals after an educational intervention (reading tutoring, peer tutoring, phonics interventions) and then collecting data on the changes in performance after these interventions. The RTI model is based on frequent data collection and changes in instruction based on the results of these interventions.
Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) is often used to collect data on interventions and their effectiveness. Response to intervention is based on discovering what works best for an individual student, not what might be the 'best' intervention for everyone. Additional methods are tried until students 'respond' to the intervention and improve their skills.
RTI provides an alternative means to classify students for special education. The current method is to use a "severe discrepancy" model which indicates that a student has a learning disability if there is a discrepancy between ability and achievement. This model did not take into account the possibility that a student is low on the achievement dimension simply because of lack of effective teaching. RTI is a way to insure each student is afforded the opportunity to learn.