Theory Into Practice, 49:250–257, 2010 Copyright © The College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University ISSN: 0040-5841 print/1543-0421 online DOI: 10.1080/00405841.2010.510447 Alfredo J. Artiles Aydin Bal Kathleen A. King Thorius Back to the Future: A Critique of Response to Intervention’s Social Justice Views The emergence of Response to Intervention (RTI) anticipates a different future for all students, particularly learners from racial minority back- grounds and students with disabilities. RTI is being widely adopted in school districts as a viable alternative to enhance learning oppor- tunities; hence, some education scholars ar- gue it promises a much-needed response to longstanding injustices for underserved students. Alfredo Artiles is a professor of Special Education and Transborder Chicana/o Latina/o Studies, Arizona State University; Aydin Bal is an assistant professor of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education at University of Wisconsin, Madison; Kathleen A. King Thorius is an assistant professor of Teacher Education/ Special Education at Indiana University–Indianapolis. Correspondence should be addressed to Professor Alfredo Artiles, Special Education and Transborder Chicana/o Latina/o Studies, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 2011, Farmer Ed Bldg. ED 244B, Tempe, AZ 85287-2011. E-mail: alfredo.artiles@asu.edu RTI aims to address injustices in the distri- bution of educational opportunities and recog- nition of underserved groups of students. The authors identify the underlying views of social justice that permeate RTI and conclude with a closer look at RTI’s justice claims embedded in some implementation procedures. They pro- pose it is important to revisit the anticipated future promised by RTI through the refinement of the social justice perspectives used in this literature. I N 1978, EDWIN MARTIN, then Deputy Com- missioner in the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, reminisced about the struggles over creating and passing P.L. 94-142. He ex- plained how individuals and organizations such as the Council for Exceptional Children ap- 250 Downloaded By: [Artiles, Alfred J] At: 14:32 9 October 2010