The purpose of this study was to determine how a response-to-intervention (RTI) model was implemented with a large percentage of Latino English language learners who were having reading difficulties in an urban elementary school at the primary level (K—2). The authors sought to describe school personnel’s perceptions of RTI, what the model looked like in their school, and the challenges they faced. The authors focused on how teachers’ understandings, beliefs, judgments, professional development, and training affected the RTI decision-making process by investigating classroom-based literacy instruction and problem-solving meetings. This study contributes to the literature by presenting a qualitative, in-depth description of how teachers implemented an RTI model for English language learners. These themes were intertwined and functioned as a negative cycle that created a deficits-based RTI literacy model.
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