Universal Screenings 

As the name implies, these are screenings of academic achievement that are administered universally. That is, to all students, not just those suspected of struggling. Using universal screenings, school teams can determine early on which students, school-wide, may be at-risk for falling behind their peers. These students can then be monitored more closely by their instructors and can begin receiving specialized interventions at the first indication that they may need extra academic and/or behavioral support.

Since all students are screened in an RtI framework, school teams are able to identify at-risk students early on, based on the screening results (as opposed to delaying identification until after some students have already failed to achieve in the classroom). Because the screenings are universal, RtI is generally not considered a special education initiative, but a framework for effectively instructing all students.