3. Individualized attention for students from staff is decreased. 
Larger numbers and more diversity generally mean that individual differentiation to meet unique learner needs is more challenging. More importantly, there are less opportunities to build critical relationships with struggling or disengaged students. 
4. Teachers have curriculum specializations. 
As students progress through the secondary grades, the academic emphasis becomes increasingly focused on knowledge dissemination and independent skill application in specific content areas. Basic reading, math, writing, and prosocial behavior skills are increasingly assumed, and not taught or reinforced. 
5. Student responsibilities increase. 
Secondary students are expected to independently self-monitor, organize, be motivated and responsible for their own learning, and able to accommodate new personal responsibilities, e.g., driving, dating, etc. We assume they will "just do it" or else they are "choosing" not to.
6. Decrease of parent involvement. 
Considering the increase in global responsibilities facing our secondary students, parent involvement is equally if not more important at this stage. Unfortunately, research continually shows that just at the time when students need parents to be increasingly present and involved, parent involvement declines (e.g., Patrikakou, 2004) 
7. The achievement gap is larger. 
Student skill and performance discrepancies are greater at the secondary level then they are at the elementary (Deshler & Kovaleski, 2007; Diamond, 2004). Why? Students have had a lot more time to hone their inappropriate, ineffective, and/or inefficient skills. 
8. The stakes are higher.  
By the time students are in late middle school/early high school, we can begin to predict who will graduate with a diploma, who will attend a post-secondary training institution and who likely will not (Deshler & Kovaleski, 2007; NELS, 1988). While early intervention in pre-school and elementary is far more economical and effective at closing an achievement gap, the lifelong effects of poor achievement are too high for our kids and our society to not continue intervening and problem-solving at the secondary level.
9. Graduation requirements drive decision-making, not instructional needs (Mark Shinn). 
Secondary educators and students are held to specific standards and credit requirements in order to earn a diploma. These goals often encroach on teachers' abilities and desire to differentiate instruction to meet unique learner needs. 

Here is a summary of features that are unique considerations for RtI in secondary settings (e.g., Allain, 2008; Sugai, et al., 2004): 

1. More staff and more kids. 
   This means more a challenge to build consistency and capacity across more people and within a larger organization structure. For example, secondary staff generally spend more time working within departments or enclaves than in school-wide staff meetings or discussions. While the former has value, this structure means less opportunities for school-wide conversations, which are equally as valuable. 
2. Multiple feeder schools. 
   Not only are there more kids, many districts have students flowing from multiple elementary schools into one or more larger secondary configurations, e.g., middle school, junior high, or high school. When these kinds of transitions occur, students know fewer of their peers, and consequently new building-wide norms must be established.