Q: Our second-grade son's teacher sent home a note saying he was receiving "Response to Intervention" support for math. She asked for a meeting to discuss it. I've looked it up but am still confused about it. Does it mean he needs special education?

A: Not at all. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a process intended to help a child catch up in a skill area before he could end up in special education. RTI has been used in reading for more than a decade. While used less frequently in math, the fact that your son's school employs it is a good sign.

"We know a lot more today about tackling early reading and math struggles than we did 30 years ago, and many classroom teachers have the tools to help kids. The whole point of RTI is to identify and remedy problems in early elementary school, when they are easiest to correct," says Dr. Michael Milone, a New Mexico-based educator and researcher who consults with school districts. "RTI is a comprehensive, multi-step assessment process intended to help children before they might be placed in a formal special education program."

RTI emerged from well-intentioned policies that, over the years, have frustrated many parents and educators and left many children without services when they needed them most. "A diagnosis that would qualify a child for special education could take years, allowing that student to fail while awaiting a change in instruction. Or worse, students might 'fail enough' to get into special education, but not get the appropriate instructional interventions that could help them move forward," says Milone.

Federal legislation passed in 2004 to align IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) with No Child Left Behind allows for intervention immediately after a disability or skill weakness is suspected.

There are reasons a second-grader might struggle with math that have nothing to do with a learning disability. "Math learning builds. You have to nail one concept before moving on to another," says Milone. "If a child lacks key mathematical and numeracy concepts early on, it can adversely impact later learning."

Here's how RTI can help your son catch up, says Milone: "The RTI process identifies at-risk students using a range of screening assessments and provides their classroom teachers with plans for intense instruction and ways to monitor progress. If the students respond to the intervention, they are returned to regular instruction. If they don't, they get additional, more intense instruction. If they still don't respond favorably, they are referred for formal special education assessment. We hope that RTI will reduce the number of kids going into special ed as the result of inappropriate instruction."

Milone suggests asking these questions at your meeting: What screening procedures, interventions and instructional programs will be used? How long does an intervention continue before determining whether he is making progress? How will his progress be monitored and communicated to us? How can we help at home? Will you put his intervention plan in writing? At what point are students who are suspected of having a learning disability referred for formal evaluation?

For more information, see "Questions to Ask Your School about RTI" at understood.org.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: With a daughter entering kindergarten, and a son not far behind, we recently bought a house near a school loved by parents and hyped by the real estate agent. When we started house hunting, the school had a rating of 9 on GreatSchools.org. The website now rates it a 7. Parents still like the school, and our daughter seems happy, but should we worry?

A: Do some digging and ask questions before you put this on your worry list. In most states, GreatSchools compiles a rating using publically available data that reflects how well students do on standardized tests compared to other students in the state. The rating is on a 1-to-10 scale, where 10 is the highest, 1 the lowest.

"While test results give you a good sense of how well students are performing at a given school, they only offer a limited snapshot of school quality," says Mike Gallaher, a senior analyst at GreatSchools.org.

That's why a growing number of states are making more data available to parents, such as attendance, information on how much students learn in a given year, how prepared they are for college work or an assessment of the school's learning climate.

GreatSchools is currently focused on three aspects of academic quality, says Gallaher: "One is student achievement -- how well students at a school do in academics, measured as the percent of students meeting state standards based on state standardized tests."

No. 2 is student growth -- how much students are actually learning in a year, rather than how much they already know.

"A school with high growth could be a school with students that started behind grade level and have now caught up," notes Gallaher.

No. 3 is college readiness. "With high schools," says Gallaher, "we look at school graduation rates and performance and participation on college entrance exams (such as the SAT and ACT) as indicators of how well students are prepared for life after high school in college or careers."

Schools in states that have rolled out the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and are testing children on those standards may see a drop in their GreatSchools rating if the tests and instruction aren't yet closely aligned.

"This is worth asking," says Gallaher. Other things to ask: What measures does the school use to track academic progress if not state tests? Has there been a change in leadership? Is there high faculty turnover? Is there any change in the student population, with new students needing extra support to catch up? What is the school's rating history?

Look at other factors, too, such as parent and community comments, what programs the school offers that are important to you, such as arts, music, after-school enrichment and so on.

"Take this opportunity to walk through all the data with the principal," suggests Gallaher. "At GreatSchools, we're willing to answer questions about how a school's rating is derived."

There may be very good reasons for the drop in score, or the school's leadership may not be aware of it and will welcome your advocacy on behalf of academic excellence.

For more, go to greatschools.org/about/ratings.page.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: One of our sons graduated college with an architecture degree in 2013 and can't find a job. It's also true for some of his friends. My younger son, a high school junior, says this is proof that he should not waste money on college. His counselor thinks he should apply, and he's considering the military. We don't want him to rack up college debt, but don't want him to be a live-at-home barista, either. Is college worth it?

A: With daily headlines about the college loan crisis and a lack of jobs that lead to careers for graduates, this is a conversation many families are having.

"You're not alone in your concerns. College is expensive and a rising number of grads aren't able to find jobs. Some have moved back home while they hunt for work," says Rob Franek, senior vice president of The Princeton Review and author of "The Best 379 Colleges, 2015 Edition" (Princeton Review, 2014).

Keep in mind, though, that statistically speaking, the time and money one spends to get a college diploma is well worth it, says Franek: "Studies show that college grads have a richer life, both literally and culturally."

Consider these facts:

-- Lifetime earnings of a person with a college degree are much higher than those of a person with only a high school diploma. Some estimates show the earnings difference can be up to $1 million more.

-- Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that the unemployment rate is far lower among college grads (currently 2.9 percent) than among job seekers with only high school diplomas (currently 5.3 percent).

-- One Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed that college grads have longer lives by an average of nine years.

"The good news is that the majority of college grads are finding jobs," notes Franek, "but the employment rate varies based on one's major. Grads in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields are highly employable and earn the highest starting salaries. But grads in non-technical fields, such as arts and sociology, face a tougher job market with considerably lower starting salaries."

Unfortunately for your older son, the unemployment rate for architecture majors was 12.8 percent in 2013 -- a result of the recession's construction downturn.

"But encourage him to keep searching," says Franek. "The flip side is that 87 percent of grads with architecture majors have found jobs."

Entering military service in lieu of attending college is a noble decision, says Franek, "and we heartily salute all of our military personal for their service to our country. The training one gets in various branches of the service can position one very well to find employment in some occupations upon discharge. Students who attend college via ROTC programs can get the degree and the experience in exchange for years of service after they graduate.

"But, sadly, the 2013 unemployment rate for veterans in general is high (9 percent overall) and, among the youngest veterans (18-24), it was higher still (21.4 percent)."

Bottom line: A college degree, generally speaking, is more than well worth it. But choose your major -- and borrow money -- wisely.

"If you take out loans to foot the bills, don't borrow more in total over the years it takes to earn the diploma than you can expect to earn as a beginning salary when you graduate," Franek advises.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)