National survey of occupational therapy practitioners' involvement in response to intervention

OBJECTIVE. We sought to describe occupational therapy practitioners' perceived levels of preparedness for and involvement in school-based Response to Intervention (RtI) initiatives. METHOD. We mailed a survey to a random sample of 1,000 practitioners from the American Occupational Therapy Association's Early Intervention and School Systems Special Interest Section. RESULTS. Of 295 returned surveys (29.9% response rate), 19 were excluded because of missing or incomplete data. Three-quarters of respondents (77.6%) reported that their districts implemented RtI. Two-thirds of respondents (66.3%) indicated that lack of resources limited their involvement in RtI; two-thirds (67%) said that district guidelines that describe expectations for practitioners' involvement would help increase their participation. Many respondents cited the need for continuing education and supported moving from a caseload to a workload model. CONCLUSION. Occupational therapy practitioners would benefit from specific district guidelines outlining the services they are able to provide within the context of RtI.