Response to Intervention (RTI) is an approach that can address children's problems in school. However, research has not consistently supported positive effects of RTI. I use the dialectical method to suggest RTI researchers have not adequately focused on children's personal experiences. The effects of persistent, negative experience are observable in external behaviors associated with executive function variation. By means of cultural--historical theory, I outline improvements to experimental designs that incorporate collaboration with children and focus on observations during intervention and assessment.