Date

8-20-2026

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Vonda Beavers

Keywords

special education, response to intervention (RTI), pre-referral process, elementary education

Disciplines

Education | Special Education and Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to interpret the lived experiences of elementary classroom teachers on Response to Intervention (RTI) support teams as part of a special education pre-referral process within a public school in Missouri. I used purposeful and snowball sampling to select elementary teachers who have participated on an RTI support team. The theory guiding this study is Bruner’s constructivist theory, as it relates to both pre-referral interventions and support teams, with the idea that the learning process happens as people construct their knowledge through creating relationships to prior knowledge, practicing trial and error, and growing as individuals with support and facilitation of others. The Central Research Question and sub-questions about the lived experiences of elementary teachers who participated in RTI support teams as part of a special education pre-referral process were explored. An interpretive hermeneutic phenomenological study research design was used to explore and interpret the lived experiences of elementary classroom teachers on RTI support teams as part of a special education referral process. Data collection methods such as individual and focus group interviews and participant journal prompts were best suited for this design, as these methods can unravel participants' experiences. The data analysis process began with reflective bracketing in conjunction with a process called the hermeneutic circle. Moustakas's (1994) thematic analysis method, modified from van Kaam’s (1959) method, was used. Thematic analysis was an overall process containing steps for analyzing data. The results showed elementary teachers value RTI teams for supporting collaboration and student needs, but report challenges with limited time, inconsistent practices, and insufficient training

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