The rural elementary principal has the ultimate responsibility for bringing all stakeholders together to focus and improve student achievement. In doing so, they must be able to provide knowledge of national, state, and local policies that influence achievement. Response to Intervention is a tiered framework for school's to provide early-intervening services to meet the needs of at-risk and struggling students. This study sought to understand the Indiana rural elementary principal's perspective of the implementation of Response to Intervention. Through literature reviews, eight themes or pillars emerged to support Response to Intervention: curriculum, data collection and analysis, research-based academic interventions, collaborative team meetings, parent involvement, behavioral support and interventions, professional development, resource availability. Principals were asked to provide their perception to these pillars as it related to their current schools. The study addressed five research questions: (a) Is there significant differences between Rural Title 1 and non-Title 1 elementary schools in the implementation of the eight pillars of Response to Intervention? (b) Is there significant differences between Rural Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools in state standardized achievement data for English/language arts? (c) Is there significant differences between Rural Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools in state standardized achievement data for Mathematics? (d) Do the eight pillars of Response to Intervention serve as predictors for standardized achievement in English/language arts? (e) Do the eight pillars of Response to Interventions serve as predictors for standardized achievement in Mathematics? Findings indicated that principals in both rural Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools reported lower composite scores related to three pillars of RTI. The pillars of academic interventions, parent involvement, and professional development had lower agreements to the supporting statements. There were indications of differences in report in the overall achievement scores in English/Language Arts and Math. The findings also revealed that the eight pillars of Response to Intervention did not serve as predictors for standardized achievement in both English/language arts and mathematics. Recommendations were made for future research that would guide policy awareness to better provide assistance and information with regards to rural education and leadership in Indiana. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]