FROM SCREENING TO DECISION-MAKING: ELEMENTS FOR IMPLEMENTING RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION IN EARLY-GRADE MATHEMATICS LEARNING

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a preventive framework that organizes instruction and increasingly intensive support according to students’ learning needs. In mathematics, however, implementing RTI requires more than administering a screening measure or offering occasional remedial activities: it depends on the alignment of assessment, evidence-informed instruction, progress monitoring, decision rules, and organizational capacity. This theoretical-documentary study analyzes conceptual, instructional, and implementation evidence on mathematics RTI and proposes a synthesis for Brazilian early-grade schools. The corpus was intentionally composed of foundational RTI studies, international practice guides, meta-analytic and systematic reviews, selected empirical investigations, implementation studies, and Brazilian educational documents. Thematic analysis produced an implementation matrix organized around seven interdependent components: universal screening; high-quality core instruction; supplemental and intensive intervention; progress monitoring; data-based decision rules; implementation fidelity and professional support; and equity and intersectoral articulation. The evidence indicates positive average effects for Tier 2 mathematics interventions, while also showing that outcomes vary according to intervention model, group composition, measure proximity, dosage, and implementation conditions. It is concluded that RTI is best understood as a continuous decision system rather than a test, protocol, or diagnostic shortcut. For the Brazilian context, gradual implementation, curriculum alignment, technically adequate measures, collaborative planning time, and explicit safeguards against labeling are essential.