of fidelity. Factors that can reduce fidelity when implementing instruction include: Complexity of the interventions and the time required to implement them Inaccessibility of required materials and resources Low perceptions/expectations of effectiveness (teachers may not fully commit to an intervention if they believe that it will not be effective, or if it is inconsistent with their teaching style) Low numbers, expertise, and motivation of those who deliver the interventions Factors that can increase fidelity when implementing an RTI model include: Well-functioning professional learning communities Using a universal screener that is brief, aligned with the curriculum, result in reliable data, and is validated for screening decisions Using a data-management system that is easily accessible by classroom teachers Implementing interventions that address the skill deficit of students Identifying and addressing class-wide needs Establishing well-defined decision rules Clear leadership from the building principal Ongoing training and professional development Key stakeholders working together in a flexible manner to improve student learning Use of standard-protocol interventions for tier 2 Not making entitlement (i.e., special education disability identification) decisions until the RTI system is in place and well established. Classification of RTI RTI is a general education process that is used in schools to ensure students receive the supports they need to be successful and excel in school. In the educational literature, RTI is often referred to as a Standard Protocol Approach, as a Problem Solving Model., or as a hybrid of the two. However, some have challenged a dichotomous view of RTI because both models incorporate problem solving to identify the academic or social-emotional difficulty the student is having and both use a systematic, universal screening procedure during Tier 1 to determine which students are having difficulties meeting age or grade level benchmarks for a specific skill. Typically, Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) or other predictive data are used to flag the students who are not meeting expected levels of performance. In the problem-solving model approach, the teacher typically refers the student to a problem-solving team to ascertain the challenges a student is having within the classroom. Using information collected from the classroom teacher and others, observations, etc., the team determines what additional supports the student might need to address the learning gap. Standard-protocol approaches tend to rely more on grade-level teams and professional learning communities to make intervention decisions, but both approaches use a problem-solving procedure to make decisions, which makes the distinction somewhat meaningless.