In our work alongside district and school leaders across the country, a few themes come up again and again. Leaders' and educators’ commitment to literacy is strong and unwavering. So is the sense of urgency, particularly for students who have been striving for years without the progress they deserve. And despite differences in size, geography, and demographics, many intervention-related challenges are surprisingly consistent across schools and districts.
What’s also true is that leaders are finding ways forward. Here are three of the challenges we hear most often, and what we’re seeing work.
What we’re hearing: “We don’t always have the data we need to make a confident intervention match.”
Many schools have assessments that tell them a student is below benchmark, but not why. Is the barrier rooted in decoding? Fluency? Vocabulary and morphological awareness? Comprehension? Without understanding where reading is breaking down, intervention selection can become educated guesswork, often defaulting to comprehension-focused support when more foundational instruction is what’s actually needed. For older striving readers in particular who may have experienced years of demoralizing struggle, that guesswork carries real consequences.
What’s helping: Schools making the most confident intervention decisions are building in a second layer of diagnostic inquiry beyond assessments that identify low reading proficiency. They’re using diagnostic tools to pinpoint specific gaps and applying them with older students to uncover foundational needs that might otherwise go unidentified. Those insights are proving invaluable when matching students to intervention. To learn more about tools that can support this process, see Identifying a Striving Reader’s Most Urgent Literacy Need.
What we’re hearing: “Finding consistent time for intervention is a constant struggle.”
Even when a well-matched intervention is identified, delivering it consistently is another matter. Intervention time often competes with specials and electives, core-instruction time, and the various demands of the school day. When intervention time is fragmented or insufficient, students struggle to build momentum and even a strong, evidence-based program can’t deliver on its promise.
What’s helping: Districts making progress are treating intervention time as a non-negotiable, protected part of the master schedule—some are even carving time from transitions to create a daily 30-minute block. They’re also reinforcing a key lesson from implementation science: consistent, supported use matters just as much as program quality. After all, students can only benefit from interventions they fully experience.
What we’re hearing: “We’re not always sure our students are getting the right level of intervention intensity.”
Many schools find themselves using materials designed for Tier 1 or Tier 2 support with students who need Tier 3 or special education-level intervention. This may be because intensive intervention programs aren't readily available, or because it isn't always clear which students need that level of support.
The consequences of this can be significant. Students who need explicit, teacher-led, highly structured instruction rarely benefit fully from resources designed for a different level of intensity. As a result, educators may find that their most challenged readers make less progress than hoped, despite everyone’s best efforts.
What’s helping: Schools seeing stronger outcomes are reviewing which students are receiving which interventions and asking, Does the intensity and design of the intervention program truly match the intensity of the need? In many cases, that reflection has led districts to expand access to Tier 3 and special education programs designed specifically for students with significant literacy challenges. Note that all literacy interventions should be reviewed for alignment to the science of reading and implementation feasibility in your context—this Structured Literacy Intervention Program Review Tool can help.
Moving Forward Together
None of these challenges has a simple solution. What we’ve found, working alongside leaders who are making meaningful progress, is that the path forward almost always begins with the question, What do these students need most right now? When that question drives decisions about assessment, scheduling, and intervention selection, support becomes more intentional, and every decision serves a clearer purpose.
That mindset is at the heart of EPS Learning’s approach: helping leaders and educators ask better questions, make more confident decisions, and ensure every striving reader receives instruction that matches their needs. Because when intervention is well matched and implemented well, students gain stronger reading skills along with confidence, greater access to learning, and ongoing opportunities for success.
