How schools can select the right reading intervention program

A post from our Literacy learning: Science of reading blog series written by teachers, for teachers, this series provides educators with the knowledge and best practices needed to sharpen their skills and bring effective science of reading-informed strategies to the classroom. 

Introduction

When students are struggling to read, every instructional minute matters. Choosing the wrong intervention program doesn’t just waste resources—it costs students the targeted, timely support they need most. But with so many programs on the market, how do school and district leaders know where to start? This guide, informed by 95 Percent Group professional learning consultant/client manager and literacy expert, Jacqueline Kilburn, is designed to give you a clear, practical framework for evaluating reading intervention programs—from understanding what effective intervention really looks like to asking the right questions before you commit.

Why choosing the right intervention program matters

Intervention is not the same as core instruction, and the program you choose needs to reflect that difference. While Tier 1 instruction is designed for all students, Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention must be precisely targeted to address the specific skill deficits of individual students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks.

One of the most important factors in choosing an intervention program is alignment.  Kilburn explains. “A highly effective intervention program should align to your Tier 1 instruction and should be easily implemented by teachers—especially if there is a knowledge gap in science of reading and structured literacy.” Alignment across tiers of instruction means that your Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention programs connect seamlessly with your Tier 1 instruction so that students are experiencing consistent language, routines, and expectations across all learning contexts. They are working on the same skills, but with increasing time and intensity as they move into Tiers 2 and 3.

A program that operates in isolation—using different terminology or a different instructional approach than what students experience in the classroom—creates confusion and slows growth.

Kilburn points out that no matter which intervention program you choose, there is a structural question that shouldn’t be overlooked: What systems do you already have in place to support Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention? The most effective program in the world won’t work if the schedule, staffing, or support structures aren’t there to sustain it.

The cost of getting this wrong is high—and not just financially. “There’s really no time to waste for our children that need the most support. Choosing the right intervention program, one that is both aligned with your Tier 1 instruction and aligned with the needs of your school or district is of critical importance.”

What effective reading intervention looks like

Strong intervention doesn’t happen by accident. It is built on a set of clear structures and intentional decisions that together create the conditions for student growth. Kilburn offers five intentional structures to move effective intervention from theory to practice (adapted from retired 95 Percent Group Co-founder, Susan Hall’s book: 10 Success Factors for Literacy Intervention, 2018):

• A walk-to model is in place. Students move to receive targeted instruction from the staff best equipped to serve their specific needs.
• Diagnostic assessment drives everything. Teachers use data to pinpoint each student’s skill gaps—not just their overall reading level — and progress monitoring is built into regular instruction cycles so that data continuously informs next steps.
• Time and staffing are maximized. Kilburn is adamant about this. “Schools that do this well have flooded their intervention blocks with as many qualified staff as possible to ensure every student’s needs are addressed through teacher-led instruction.”
• The curriculum is aligned to structured literacy principles—meaning it is explicit, systematic, and cumulative, and includes a strong diagnostic component.
• A professional learning and implementation plan is in place. Teachers are not left to figure it out on their own. There is a clear plan for building knowledge and supporting the integrity of the implementation over time.

Intentional planning and decision making can go a long way in setting teachers and students up for intervention success.

Signs your current intervention system isn’t working

Sometimes the hardest part is recognizing that what you have in place isn’t moving the needle. Here are the most common signs that your intervention system may need a second look:

• The data isn’t moving. Students are not progressing toward proficiency. Diagnostic scores are stagnant, and screener results are not improving over time.
• Students are stuck in intervention. Rather than graduating out of support, students remain in the same intervention cycles week after week, month after month and sometimes even year after year.
• Teacher and student frustration is high. When intervention feels like a grind— for the teacher delivering it and the student receiving it, that is a signal worth paying attention to.
• Teacher engagement is low. Teachers who don’t believe in a program won’t implement it with full integrity to the components, and students can feel that.
• The curriculum doesn’t align to structured literacy principles. If the program isn’t addressing the specific data showing a lack of mastery, it is not doing its job.

When these signs appear, the first step is to examine whether the program is being implemented with integrity. Checkpoints—for example, admin walkthrough tools—can be embedded in coaching and implementation support, and can help leaders identify where the breakdown is happening before assuming the program itself is the problem. 

8 Key decisions to make before choosing a program

Before you start comparing programs, get clear on your own context. Every school district has its own unique needs—including its systemic and structural set up, its student body and staffing needs. Kilburn offers 8 essential questions every decision maker should be able to answer before choosing an intervention program:

1. Do we have time in our daily schedule to provide MTSS or RTI for all identified students at each grade level?
2. Are the staff members who are designated to provide intervention highly trained in structured literacy and the science of reading?
3. What does our data tell us about how many students need intervention —and do we have enough staff to address those needs? (If there is a large number of students in need of intervention, it is important to look at gaps in your Tier 1 program of instruction)
4. If our staff lacks the necessary knowledge, how will we provide professional learning to close that gap?
5. How will we screen students to identify who needs intervention? Do we already have a screener in place? Is it aligned to the science of reading?
6. Is there a curriculum that includes built-in assessment tools to help us pinpoint each student’s highest-priority needs?
7. Is there a curriculum that can support teachers who don’t yet have a strong foundation in foundational literacy skills?
8. What professional development and coaching is available with the programs we are considering — and will it be enough to ensure fidelity?

These questions are not just logistical—they are the foundation of a sustainable intervention system. Skipping them leads to mismatches between program design and school reality.

What to look for in a reading intervention program

Once you know your context, you can evaluate programs against a clear set of criteria. Strong intervention programs share these characteristics:

• Structured literacy principles: explicit, systematic, cumulative instruction that addresses phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension
• Diagnostic assessment built in: not as an add-on, but as a core part of the program design
• Skill-specific lessons linked to diagnostic results: so instruction is always targeted to specific skill needs, not a generic, one-sized fits all approach
• Progress monitoring that is easy to implement: so teachers can use data to adjust instruction cycles without it becoming a burden
• Flexible grouping based on data: allowing teachers to move students as their needs change
• Support for teachers with limited foundational knowledge: including scripted or routine-based lessons that build teacher confidence alongside student skills
• Materials for older readers that need intensive support: because intervention needs look very different in 4th grade or 7th grade than in 1st grade
• Support for multilingual learners: because MLL students need a program that prioritizes English phoneme combinations that are not present in their home language and emphasizes oral language development to strengthen text-level skills like comprehension and writing; this is where MLLs most often need additional support
• Robust teacher training and ongoing professional learning: because a program is only as strong as its implementation

Evaluating program fit for your district or school

Each district or school has its own unique ecosystem. Choosing the right intervention program is not just about what the program offers; it is about whether it fits your specific context.

Being able to look at a program and know ahead of time whether it’s a good fit for your district’s specific circumstances is a powerful lever to pull. It helps to take the guesswork out of whether a program will be a goodlong-term investment for your teachers and students.

Here is how to evaluate fit:

1. Confirm alignment with your district’s frameworks. Does the program align with your existing MTSS structure, your Tier 1 curriculum, and your professional learning priorities?
2. Match the program to your staffing reality. Who will deliver intervention—classroom teachers, reading specialists, or dedicated interventionists? The program needs to work for the people delivering it.
3. Ensure the program fits your available time. How many minutes per day can you realistically dedicate to intervention? Make sure the program’s design matches your schedule. Trying to fit a suggested 50 minutes of instruction into the 35 minutes your schedule allows will set teachers up to fail from the start.
4. Use trusted evaluation tools. Resources like The Reading League’s curriculum evaluation tool, the Courage to Lead framework, and 95 Percent Group’s 10 Success Factors for Literacy Intervention (Hall, 2018) can help you assess programs against research-based criteria.

Implementation challenges to plan for

Even the best program can struggle once in implementation. Having a non-negotiable vision and then filtering every choice through your vision can be the difference between a successful implementation and one that flops.

A successful implementation takes time (usually two to four years for a full implementation) and patience. Here are the most common challenges — and why planning for them upfront makes all the difference:

• Schedule and time structures. Finding protected intervention time in an already packed school day is one of the biggest barriers. Plan this before you launch.
• Staffing. Who will provide intervention, and are they prepared to do it well? This needs to be decided—and fully communicated—before day one.
• Buy-in and teacher engagement. Teachers and administrators who don’t understand or believe in the program will not implement it with full integrity. Student outcomes often rely on all components of a program “working together.” Invest in the “why” before the “how.”
• Ongoing training and professional learning. Implementation is not a one-time event. Budget time and resources for continuous support (here is where that 2–4-year timeline becomes critical).
• Sustainability. What happens in year two? Three? Build a plan for sustaining the work—including staff turnover—from the beginning.
• Cost. Factor in not just the program itself, but the full cost of implementation: training, materials, coaching, and time.

How 95 Percent Group supports reading intervention

95 Percent Group’s Tiered Solutions are designed to address exactly the challenges outlined in this guide—with programs across Tiers 1, 2 and 3 that are based in research and proven to be effective in real classrooms.  95 Tiered Solutions are both aligned to structured literacy, anddesigned to work together; they are built to support teachers at every level of knowledge and experience.

Tier 2 and Tier 3 solutions include:

• 95 Literacy Intervention System
  • 95 Phonics Screener for Intervention™ (95 PSI™)—diagnostic assessment tool that pinpoints the specific phonics skill deficits driving reading struggles. Maps directly to instruction using 95 Phonics Lessons Library.
  • 95 Phonemic Awareness Screener for Intervention™ (95 PASI™)—diagnostic assessment tool that pinpoints the specific phonemic awareness skill deficits driving reading struggles. Maps directly to instruction with 95 Phonemic Awareness Intervention Resource™
  • 95 Phonics Lesson Library™ 2.0—Our updated phonics intervention instruction that delivers instructional support and integrates seamlessly with 95 Literacy Intervention System.
• 95 Phonics Chip Kit™—A hands-on learning experience, immersing students in multisensory phonics instruction.
• 95 Phonemic Awareness Intervention Resource™ (95 PAIR)—an intervention resource that connects diagnostic data directly to targeted skill instruction
• 95 RAP (Reading Achievement Program) ™—a comprehensive Tier 3 solution that personalizes intensive intervention for the students who need it most
• 95 Vocabulary Surge™ and Morpheme Magic™—targeted vocabulary and word study programs for upper elementary students
• 95 Comprehension™—support for students who can decode but struggle to understand what they read

To see these solutions in action, check out our on-demand webinars:

• Discover Better Tier 2 Intervention
• Transforming Tier 3 Instruction and Outcomes

Expert biography

Jacqueline Kilburn is a Client Manager with 95 Percent Group, where she partners with school and district leaders to advance literacy outcomes through the implementation of evidence-based instructional practices. She brings a diverse background in education, having served as a primary-grade classroom teacher, instructional coach, curriculum and professional development leader, and clinical product manager. This breadth of experience enables her to provide strategic, systems-level support grounded in practical classroom application.

In her current role, Jacqueline collaborates with educators and administrators to design and facilitate professional learning, analyze instructional effectiveness, and support the implementation of comprehensive literacy frameworks, including MTSS and targeted intervention models. She is recognized for her ability to build strong professional relationships and foster collaborative environments that support sustainable instructional improvement.

Jacqueline is committed to empowering educators with the knowledge and tools needed to drive meaningful gains in student literacy achievement.

Sources

1. Hall, Susan L. 2018. 10 Success Factors for Literacy Intervention: Getting Results with MTSS in Elementary Schools. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
2. The Reading League. 2023. Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines. March 2023. https://www.thereadingleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/The-Reading-League-Curriculum-Evaluation-Guidelines-2023.pdf.