Response to Intervention: Examining Classroom Behavior Support in Second Grade

Abstract

This article reports on 2 studies investigating a response-to-intervention (RTI) approach to behavior support in 2 second-grade classrooms. The results suggest that a slightly more intensive but efficient targeted intervention (“check in and check out”) was effective in supporting the social behavior success of 4 students whose problem behaviors were unresponsive to general classroom management practices. For 4 other students whose problem behaviors continued to be unresponsive to the “check-in and check-out” intervention, more individualized and function-based interventions were indicated and proved to be effective. The results from this research suggest that RTI logic can be applied to the social behavior support of students who present interfering problem behaviors in the classroom. Implications and recommendations for research and practice are discussed.