The 5 Questions to Ask Before Your Next Reading Intervention Purchase

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.  

1. Does the program align with science of reading research?  

The science of reading has provided multiple actionable insights regarding effective literacy instruction: 

• Five pillars of reading must be addressed during literacy instruction. Students must learn and master skills across all five pillars of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension to read and understand grade-level texts.  
• All students benefit from Structured Literacy. Structured Literacy programs explicitly and systematically teach the critical foundational skills needed for proficient reading. This approach benefits all students, including students with dyslexia and multilingual learners. 
• Students needing intensive support may require Orton-Gillingham strategies. Programs that incorporate OG-based multisensory instruction to engage multiple learning pathways—auditory, visual, and kinesthetic/tactile—are particularly impactful for students served in Tier 3 or special education settings. 

2. Does the program serve the wide-ranging needs of striving readers across grades and intervention tiers? 

Students of all ages who need reading intervention are likely to exhibit one or more of the following challenges:  

• Poor phonemic awareness or weak decoding skills 
• Slow, effortful reading with poor fluency 
• Limited vocabulary or background knowledge 
• Difficulty with comprehension 

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. 

3. Does the program include teacher-led instruction that is explicit and systematic? 

Science of reading research confirms that striving readers require systematic instruction that includes repetition and practice. These students need: 

• Direct, explicit instruction on how letters and sounds work together to form words 
• A logical, incremental, and cumulative progression of skills, from simplest to most complex concepts 
• Multiple opportunities for reinforcement and mastery 
• Independent practice with appropriately complex connected text to apply and solidify learning  

Teacher-led instruction, which is especially important for intervention, ensures that skills and concepts are carefully introduced, modeled, practiced, and solidified.   

4. Does the program include strong professional learning, guidance, and support? 

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: 

• High-quality, time-efficient professional learning. All educators need expert-led training that equips them to implement a program without taxing their limited professional learning time. For teachers with less experience in foundational literacy instruction, professional learning should also include guidance on foundational literacy pedagogy so that teachers understand the why that underpins an intervention’s instructional strategies. 
• Structured yet flexible lesson plan guidance. Teacher-led programs should provide clear step-by-step educator support with soft scripting, providing enough direction for instructional consistency while remaining adaptable to meet individual students’ needs and teachers’ comfort levels. 
• On-demand support and just-in-time resources. Teachers need seamless access to resources, troubleshooting support, and ongoing professional learning—available when and where they need it—to support effective program implementation. 
• Guidance in using student data to drive instruction. Educators must have real-time access to student progress data, along with practical guidance on how to interpret it, adjust instruction, or inform small-group work. 

5. Does the program provide evidence of its effectiveness? 

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: 

• Meets evidence standards for Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) 
• Demonstrates statistically significant gains in student reading outcomes  
• Aligns with state and district literacy policies 

Moving Forward 

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. 

RFP Evaluation Rubric:  
Selecting an Effective Reading Intervention 

Use the rubric below as a starting point to evaluate reading intervention programs across five key areas.