Preservice Teacher Education and Response to Intervention Within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support: What Can We Learn from Research and Practice?

This chapter provides teacher educators and policy makers with suggestions for integrating RTI within preservice teacher preparation programs. A rationale for the need to do this and the corresponding empirical research base are described. Based on a review of relevant literature in the areas of teacher education, professional development, and RTI, five overall suggestions that teacher educators and policy makers can use to frame the improvement of preservice preparation in RTI are offered. These suggestions include systematically integrating RTI content across preservice programs, emphasizing data literacy, emphasizing essential content and pedagogical content knowledge, emphasizing knowledge of instructional practices that promote positive outcomes for students across instructional tiers, and emphasizing practices for engaging families in the RTI process. Each suggestion is discussed and key aspects to implementation are described with support from the literature. The chapter concludes with final thoughts and suggestions for future research.