In a marketplace overrun with instructional programs, how can you be certain you are selecting the right reading intervention to meet your district’s needs? If you select the wrong program, your striving readers will continue to lag their on-grade-level peers, miss reading benchmarks, and underperform on state assessments. Beyond the negative impact on students, a poor-fit intervention program becomes an additional burden on already strained budgets.
Before you make this critical purchase, create a request for proposal (RFP) that solicits detailed responses from instructional program providers. A well-crafted RFP ensures you ask the right questions and receive the information required to select an evidence-based solution that will meet the needs of both your students and educators.
The science of reading has provided multiple actionable insights regarding effective literacy instruction:
Students of all ages who need reading intervention are likely to exhibit one or more of the following challenges:
Other factors that impact reading outcomes include having dyslexia or other learning and thinking differences, being a multilingual learner, or interrupted learning.
Effective programs must be poised to target the specific needs of diverse learners across grades and tiers in a comprehensive, integrated manner. They must also provide flexible pacing and differentiation options for a range of classroom and intervention settings. Additionally, upper elementary and secondary students with gaps in foundational skills require age-appropriate materials with accelerated pacing for efficient remediation.
Science of reading research confirms that striving readers require systematic instruction that includes repetition and practice. These students need:
Teacher-led instruction, which is especially important for intervention, ensures that skills and concepts are carefully introduced, modeled, practiced, and solidified.
Even the best reading interventions require effective implementation to drive student success, and a well prepared and fully supported educator is the key to successful implementation. Educators need:
First, examine the research foundation behind the program to understand its design and to validate that its approach is grounded in the science of reading. Next, evaluate the program’s effectiveness with students. Ensure there is evidence demonstrating student growth in students’ reading abilities. Key considerations regarding a program’s efficacy include:
A well-designed, thoughtfully considered RFP ensures you select a reading intervention that meets research-based standards, supports diverse learners, empowers teachers, and delivers proven results. Use these five questions and the rubric below to shape your RFP and identify the best intervention solution for your district.
Use the rubric below as a starting point to evaluate reading intervention programs across five key areas.
1. Alignment with the Science of Reading | |
Addresses the five pillars of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) | |
Follows the Structured Literacy approach to building foundational reading skills | |
Incorporates Orton-Gillingham-based instruction to engage multiple learning pathways (auditory, visual, kinesthetic / tactile) | |
2. Support for Diverse Learners | |
Targets the specific learning needs of individual students who require Tier 2, Tier 3, or special education support, including students with dyslexia characteristics | |
Provides supports for multilingual learners | |
Promotes flexible pacing and opportunities for differentiation | |
Features age-appropriate materials, especially for upper-elementary and secondary students with foundational skill gaps | |
3. Teacher-led Instruction with Reinforcement and Practice | |
Provides clearly sequenced, teacher-led lessons to support cumulative skill development | |
Includes logical skill progression from simple to complex | |
Offers reinforcement lessons for teachers to deliver as needed | |
Incorporates student practice to reinforce specific skills recently or previously taught during teacher-led lessons | |
Provides independent practice opportunities with appropriately complex connected text | |
4. Professional Learning and Support for Educators | |
Includes expert-led, efficient professional learning that enables educators to effectively implement the program | |
Professional learning includes guidance for teachers and paraprofessionals with varying levels of foundational literacy teaching experience | |
Features soft scripts for structured yet flexible lesson plan guidance | |
Offers on-demand educator support and just-in-time resources to support strong implementation | |
Provides relevant student data to drive instruction, with guidance for appropriate action | |
5. Proven Effectiveness | |
Program meets evidence standards for Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) | |
Program has demonstrated statistically significant gains in student reading outcomes | |
Program aligns with state and district literacy policies |