In a fitness class, most people can follow the instructor and see results. Some might need a small group session to refine their form. But for those with specific goals or challenges, a personal trainer provides a customized plan that guarantees progress. The same principle applies to reading instruction. A structured literacy tier 3 intervention is like that expert personal trainer for reading. It’s a highly individualized, one-on-one or very small group approach for students who need the most intensive support. It moves at the student’s pace, provides immediate, corrective feedback, and uses a diagnostic plan to build specific reading “muscles.” This focused, data-driven support is essential for helping students with the most significant learning gaps build strength, confidence, and true reading proficiency.
Key Takeaways
- Focus on Intensity, Not Just Time: Tier 3 support is more than just extra practice. It requires highly targeted, one-on-one or very small group instruction that is tailored to a student’s specific, data-identified skill gaps.
- Use a Systematic and Multisensory Approach: The most effective interventions are built on explicit, sequential instruction that engages multiple senses. This means clearly modeling skills, providing immediate corrective feedback, and building in constant review to ensure mastery.
- Let Data and Teamwork Drive Your Decisions: Consistently monitor student progress to make informed adjustments to your teaching plan. Involve specialists and families to create a cohesive support system that ensures everyone is working toward the same goals.
What Are Structured Literacy and MTSS?
Before we explore Tier 3 interventions, it’s important to understand the two foundational concepts that make them possible: Structured Literacy and a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). Think of Structured Literacy as the what—the specific, evidence-based instructional approach—and MTSS as the how—the framework schools use to deliver that instruction to the students who need it most. Together, they create a powerful system for ensuring every child can become a proficient reader. Understanding how they work in tandem will give you a clearer picture of the purpose and power behind Tier 3 support.
A Clear Definition of Structured Literacy
Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is Structured Literacy? Think of it as a roadmap for teaching reading—one that is incredibly clear, logical, and designed to work for every student. At its heart, Structured Literacy is an instructional approach that is explicit, systematic, and multisensory. “Explicit” means we teach students directly and clearly, leaving no room for guessing. “Systematic” means we introduce concepts in a specific, logical order, with each new skill building on the last. And “multisensory” means we engage multiple senses, like sight, sound, and touch, to help cement learning. This approach is a game-changer for all learners, but it’s especially vital for students with reading challenges like dyslexia.
Core Components of a Structured Literacy Approach
A Structured Literacy approach is built on several key components that work together to create strong, confident readers. These are the essential building blocks of literacy, grounded in decades of research known as the Science of Reading. We start with phonological awareness, teaching students to hear and play with the sounds in language. Then comes phonics, where we explicitly connect those sounds to letters. From there, we build vocabulary, expand reading fluency so that reading becomes smooth and automatic, and finally, develop deep reading comprehension. Each piece is taught methodically, ensuring students master one skill before moving to the next. This creates a solid foundation, preventing gaps in learning and empowering students to tackle increasingly complex texts.
What is a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS)?
So, where does Structured Literacy fit into a school’s overall plan? Often, it’s within a Multi-Tiered System of Support, or MTSS. MTSS is a framework schools use to provide the right level of academic and behavioral support to every single student. It’s not a specific curriculum, but rather a proactive approach to identifying and addressing student needs early. The framework has three main levels. Tier 1 is the high-quality core instruction all students receive in the general classroom. Tier 2 provides targeted, small-group interventions for students who need extra practice. And Tier 3, which we’ll focus on here, offers intensive, individualized support for students with the most significant needs. This tiered system ensures every child gets the precise help they need to succeed. Our school district curriculum is designed to integrate seamlessly into this model.
What Are Tier 3 Interventions in Structured Literacy?
When you’ve provided high-quality, evidence-based instruction to your whole class (Tier 1) and offered targeted support to small groups (Tier 2), what comes next for the students who still struggle? This is where Tier 3 interventions come in. Think of Tier 3 not as a specific classroom, but as the most intensive level of academic support a school can offer within a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). It’s designed for students with the most significant learning gaps or those who have been identified with learning disabilities like dyslexia.
Tier 3 is all about providing powerful, individualized instruction to help these students catch up and build a solid foundation for reading success. This level of support moves beyond general strategies and focuses on creating a highly specific, data-driven plan tailored to each child’s unique needs. For educators and parents, this means working closely with a student to pinpoint exact areas of difficulty and providing instruction that is both explicit and systematic. A comprehensive structured literacy curriculum is essential here, as it provides the framework needed to deliver this kind of precise, research-backed instruction effectively. It’s a commitment to giving every child the focused attention they need to become a confident, capable reader.
Key Features of Tier 3 Support
Tier 3 support is defined by its intensity. This isn’t just a little extra help; it’s a significant increase in the frequency, duration, and individualization of instruction. Sessions are typically held one-on-one or in very small groups of two or three students. The instruction is highly focused and moves at a pace determined by the student’s progress, not a pre-set calendar. A critical feature of Tier 3 is its reliance on data. Educators constantly observe, assess, and review a student’s performance to make immediate adjustments to the teaching plan. This ensures that every moment of instruction is as effective as possible, directly addressing the student’s most pressing challenges with targeted support from a dedicated homeschool curriculum.
Which Students Benefit from Tier 3?
Tier 3 is designed for students facing the most significant academic hurdles. This includes children who did not make adequate progress even after receiving targeted Tier 2 interventions. It is also the appropriate level of support for students who have been identified with a specific learning disability, such as dyslexia, and qualify for special education services. These students often have complex learning profiles that require a deeply diagnostic and prescriptive approach. The goal of Tier 3 is to provide an instructional safety net that is strong and personalized enough to help them close substantial gaps in their reading skills and build the confidence they need to succeed.
How Tier 3 Differs from Tiers 1 and 2
The simplest way to understand the difference between the tiers is to think about the level of support provided. Tier 1 is the universal, core instruction that all students receive in the general education classroom. Tier 2 offers targeted, small-group instruction for students who need a bit more practice and reinforcement to master grade-level skills. Tier 3, however, is the most intensive level. It provides individualized, diagnostic, and systematic instruction for students with the greatest needs. While Tiers 1 and 2 are preventative, Tier 3 is a highly focused intervention designed to remediate significant skill deficits using a proven, research-based approach like Orton-Gillingham.
What Makes a Tier 3 Intervention Effective?
When a student needs Tier 3 support, it’s not enough to just increase the time they spend on reading. The quality and type of instruction have to change, too. Effective Tier 3 interventions are highly structured, targeted, and responsive to the student’s specific needs. They move beyond general classroom teaching to provide a focused environment where struggling readers can truly make progress. The goal is to build a strong foundation, skill by skill, so students can catch up to their peers and gain confidence. These interventions are built on a few core principles that work together to create a powerful learning experience.
Deliver Systematic and Explicit Instruction
The most effective interventions are both systematic and explicit. Systematic instruction means lessons are presented in a logical, sequential order. Skills build on one another, moving from simple to complex, so there are no gaps in a student’s understanding. Think of it as building a house brick by brick—you can’t put up the walls before the foundation is solid.
Explicit instruction means the teacher clearly explains and models every concept. There’s no guesswork for the student. The teacher says exactly what they are doing and why, breaking down skills into manageable steps. This direct approach is a cornerstone of structured literacy and is essential for students who don’t pick up on reading skills intuitively.
Provide Immediate, Corrective Feedback
In a Tier 3 setting, feedback is your best friend. When a student makes a mistake, it’s important to provide immediate and corrective feedback in a supportive way. This isn’t about pointing out what’s wrong; it’s about guiding the student to the right answer right away. This prevents them from practicing errors and reinforcing incorrect neural pathways.
This instant feedback loop helps students self-correct and understand the “why” behind their mistakes. For example, if a child misreads a word, the instructor can immediately guide them to sound it out correctly, reinforcing the phonics rule on the spot. This constant, gentle correction builds accuracy and helps students feel supported rather than discouraged as they tackle challenging material.
Incorporate Frequent Review and Practice
Mastery doesn’t happen after one lesson. For skills to stick, students need to practice them over and over again. Effective Tier 3 interventions intentionally build frequent review into every session. Previously taught concepts are revisited regularly to ensure they move from short-term to long-term memory. This constant reinforcement is crucial for students who struggle with retention.
This doesn’t have to mean boring drills. Practice can be woven into games, activities, and reading new texts. Using resources like dedicated practice books can provide the structured repetition needed to build fluency and automaticity. The more a student successfully practices a skill, the more automatic it becomes, freeing up their mental energy to focus on more complex tasks like reading comprehension.
Use Scaffolded Instruction
Scaffolding is the process of providing temporary support to help a student achieve a learning goal. Imagine it like training wheels on a bike. At first, the teacher provides a lot of support, modeling the skill and guiding the student through every step. As the student gains proficiency and confidence, the teacher gradually removes that support, allowing the student to become more independent.
This approach ensures that students are challenged but not overwhelmed. The instructor might start by modeling how to decode a word, then do it together with the student, and finally ask the student to do it on their own. This gradual release of responsibility fosters independence and resilience, empowering students to tackle tasks on their own.
Apply Multisensory Approaches
Many struggling readers, especially those with dyslexia, learn best when information is presented through multiple senses. A multisensory approach engages sight, sound, touch, and even movement to help cement learning. Instead of just seeing a letter and hearing its sound, a student might also trace the letter’s shape in sand or use letter tiles to build words.
This technique creates more pathways in the brain for information to be stored and retrieved. The Orton-Gillingham approach, for example, is fundamentally multisensory. By connecting listening, speaking, reading, and writing, this method helps students forge stronger connections between letters and sounds, making reading a less abstract and more concrete process.
How to Assess and Monitor Progress in Tier 3
Once you’ve established a strong Tier 3 intervention framework, your focus shifts to making sure it’s working for each student. This is where assessment and progress monitoring become your most powerful tools. It’s a continuous cycle of teaching, assessing, and refining your approach based on what the student’s performance tells you. Think of yourself as a reading detective, using data as your clues to solve the mystery of what will help your student succeed. This data-driven process ensures that your instruction is always targeted, responsive, and effective.
Identify Students for Tier 3 Placement
Deciding to move a student into Tier 3 is a significant step that should be backed by clear and comprehensive data. Students who need this level of support often face complex challenges, so a data-driven plan is essential. Before making a placement decision, take time to observe the student, review their performance data from Tiers 1 and 2, and use specific assessment tools to pinpoint their exact areas of need. This process helps you understand the full picture of their learning profile, including any underlying difficulties like dyslexia. A thorough analysis ensures that the intensive support of Tier 3 is reserved for the students who truly need it and that their intervention plan is built on a solid foundation of evidence.
Monitor Progress Effectively
In Tier 3, progress monitoring happens more frequently and with greater precision than in other tiers. The goal is to regularly check student progress to see if the intervention is working. This isn’t about waiting for a report card; it’s about collecting data weekly, or even multiple times a week, on the specific skills you’re teaching. This constant feedback loop is critical. It helps you determine if a student is responding to the instruction, if the approach needs to be modified, or if the intensity should be adjusted. Consistent monitoring is a core component of any effective structured literacy program because it allows you to be agile and responsive, making changes the moment a student’s progress begins to stall.
Use Data to Guide Your Decisions
The data you collect from progress monitoring is more than just a number on a chart—it’s your roadmap for instruction. High-quality instruction in Tier 3 covers the core components of reading, and teachers should use data collected from students to guide their teaching. If your data shows a student has mastered blending CVC words but is struggling with digraphs, you know exactly what to focus on in your next lesson. This practice of using real-time data to make instructional decisions is at the heart of the Orton-Gillingham approach. It transforms your teaching from a one-size-fits-all model to a highly personalized and diagnostic plan that directly addresses each student’s unique challenges.
How to Implement Tier 3 Interventions
Putting Tier 3 interventions into practice is where your strategy truly comes to life. It’s about moving from planning to doing, with a focus on being observant, responsive, and flexible. Success in Tier 3 doesn’t come from a rigid script but from a thoughtful, dynamic approach that centers the student’s unique journey. Let’s walk through the key steps to effectively implement these intensive supports.
Create an Individualized Intervention Plan
Students who need Tier 3 support often face complex challenges, so a data-driven, individualized plan is essential. Before you begin instruction, take the time to observe the student, review their progress data, and talk with their other teachers and family. This helps you build a complete picture of their strengths and the specific areas where they need the most help, especially for learning differences like dyslexia. Your plan should outline clear goals, the specific instructional methods you’ll use, and how you’ll measure progress. This document will be your roadmap, ensuring every minute of intervention is purposeful and targeted.
Adapt Instruction for Individuals and Small Groups
Tier 3 interventions are most effective when delivered in a one-on-one or very small group setting. This format allows you to provide the highly structured, explicit instruction these students need to close significant gaps. You can offer immediate, corrective feedback and create a safe, supportive environment where students feel comfortable taking risks. If you’re working with a small group, remember that instruction should still be tailored to each child’s unique needs. You might work on the same skill but use different scaffolding or pacing for each student. For specialized support, working with trained PRIDE Reading Specialists can provide this level of tailored instruction.
Adjust Your Approach Based on Student Needs
An intervention plan is not meant to be set in stone. Think of it as a living document that you should adjust based on ongoing assessment of student progress. What works for a student one week might need tweaking the next. Frequent progress monitoring will give you the data you need to make informed decisions. If a student masters a skill, it’s time to move on. If they’re struggling, you may need to break the concept down further or try a different multisensory technique. This responsive teaching is a core principle of the Science of Reading and ensures your instruction remains effective and efficient.
Address Common Tier 3 Challenges
Implementing Tier 3 interventions can feel like a heavy lift, but you’re not alone in facing these hurdles. The students who need this level of support have complex, individual needs, and the systems in place to help them aren’t always perfect. Recognizing potential challenges ahead of time is the first step toward building a sustainable and effective support system. With the right strategies and a clear plan, you can manage these obstacles and create an environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed.
Identify Common Roadblocks
Students who require Tier 3 support often face a mix of academic challenges that need a careful, data-driven plan. A common roadblock is moving forward without a clear picture of the student’s specific struggles, such as those associated with dyslexia. It’s essential to observe the student, review their progress data, and adjust your interventions based on what you see.
On the educator side, challenges can include insufficient teacher training, a lack of resources, and inconsistent support across a school or district. When teachers feel unprepared or under-equipped, it’s difficult to provide the intensive, high-quality instruction that Tier 3 demands. Pinpointing these gaps allows you to advocate for the specific training and materials your team needs to feel confident and prepared.
Strategies to Set You Up for Success
One of the most powerful strategies for Tier 3 is early identification. When you can recognize a student’s struggles at their onset, your intervention is far more likely to be effective. This proactive approach prevents learning gaps from widening and helps students build foundational skills before they fall further behind. Another key to success is ensuring that your most intensive interventions are delivered by highly qualified and experienced teachers. These educators have the expertise to implement evidence-based instruction with fidelity and adapt it to each child’s unique needs.
If you need additional support, working with trained professionals can make a significant difference. Our PRIDE Reading Specialists are experts in Orton-Gillingham methods and can provide the targeted, one-on-one instruction that helps students in Tier 3 thrive.
Manage Your Resources Wisely
Let’s be honest: resources are often limited. To make Tier 3 sustainable, a structured, team-based approach is crucial. This ensures that everyone knows their role and that interventions are applied consistently. A data-driven plan is your best friend here, as it helps you allocate resources effectively by tailoring support to each student’s specific learning needs. You can avoid wasting time on strategies that aren’t working and focus on what truly moves the needle.
Using a comprehensive, scripted curriculum can also be a huge help. A program with built-in lesson plans and materials, like our homeschool or school district curriculum, takes the guesswork out of instruction and frees up teachers to focus on what they do best: teaching.
Foster Collaboration and Professional Growth
Implementing Tier 3 interventions effectively isn’t a one-person show. It’s a team sport that thrives on collaboration, shared knowledge, and continuous improvement. When you bring together educators, specialists, and families, you create a powerful support system that wraps around the student. This collective effort ensures that interventions are not only well-planned but also consistently applied and adjusted as needed. A strong collaborative foundation makes the entire process more sustainable and impactful for everyone involved.
Building this collaborative environment starts with clear communication and a shared understanding of the goal: helping every child become a confident reader. It involves defining specific roles so everyone knows their part, committing to ongoing professional development to keep skills sharp, and creating a network where teachers and families feel supported. When your team is aligned and equipped with the right tools and knowledge, you can confidently address the complex challenges that students in Tier 3 face. This approach transforms intervention from a series of isolated actions into a cohesive, strategic plan for literacy success. The PRIDE Reading Program’s school district curriculum is designed to support this team-based model, providing the structure and resources needed for successful implementation.
Define Roles for Educators and Support Staff
For Tier 3 to be effective, everyone on the team needs to know their specific role. Tier 3 interventions are highly individualized and intensive, so they should be delivered by your most qualified and experienced educators. This often means reading specialists or special education teachers who have deep training in structured literacy. Their expertise is essential for diagnosing specific difficulties and delivering targeted instruction.
Classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators also play crucial supporting roles. They help reinforce skills, monitor progress in different settings, and ensure the student’s intervention plan is integrated into their overall school day. Creating a clear, data-driven plan is key. When you outline who is responsible for each part of the intervention—from direct instruction to progress monitoring—you create a seamless and accountable system that gives students the consistent support they need.
Why Ongoing Training Matters
The field of reading instruction is always advancing, which is why ongoing professional development is non-negotiable for educators involved in Tier 3 support. A one-and-done training session isn’t enough to address the complex needs of struggling readers. Continuous learning ensures that your team stays current with the latest research and best practices aligned with the Science of Reading.
Equipping teachers with up-to-date knowledge and practical strategies is crucial for effective outcomes. When educators feel confident and competent, they are better prepared to implement interventions with fidelity and troubleshoot challenges as they arise. This commitment to professional growth helps teachers refine their skills, adapt their methods, and ultimately increase the effectiveness of their instruction, ensuring that students receiving Tier 3 support get the highest quality education possible.
Build a Supportive Network
A strong support network is the backbone of any successful Tier 3 intervention program. This network should include teachers, specialists, administrators, and, most importantly, families. When you adopt a structured, team-based approach, you create a sustainable system that can provide consistent and powerful support. Regular meetings and open lines of communication allow the team to share data, discuss progress, and make collaborative decisions about the student’s plan.
Involving parents and families from the very beginning is essential. They offer unique insights into their child’s strengths and challenges and can reinforce learning at home. When families are treated as meaningful partners in the process, they become powerful advocates for their child’s education. This partnership between home and school ensures the student feels supported from all sides, creating an environment where they can truly thrive.
Involve Parents and Families in Tier 3
A student’s success with Tier 3 intervention extends far beyond the classroom walls. When educators and families work together as a cohesive team, the impact on a child’s learning journey is profound. Parents offer a unique and invaluable perspective on their child’s history, personality, and home life. Creating a strong partnership with them is a fundamental component of an effective intervention strategy.
This collaboration ensures that the intensive support a student receives at school is understood, reinforced, and celebrated at home. By opening lines of communication and inviting families into the process, you build a circle of support around the student that makes learning feel consistent and achievable. Let’s walk through how to build this essential bridge between school and home.
Include Families in the Planning Process
From the very beginning, parents and guardians should be active partners in developing their child’s intervention plan. They hold deep knowledge about their child’s strengths, what frustrates them, and what truly sparks their interest. When you meaningfully involve families in the planning stages, you’re not just getting buy-in; you’re gaining a critical ally who can help shape a more effective and personalized strategy.
Invite them to meetings, listen to their observations, and ask for their input on goals. This collaborative approach helps parents understand the “why” behind the intervention and empowers them to become an integral part of the solution. When families feel heard and valued, they are better equipped to support the plan with confidence.
How Families Can Support Learning at Home
Parents often ask, “What can I do to help?” Providing them with clear, manageable ways to support learning at home can make a world of difference. Research shows that family involvement is directly linked to student success. You can guide parents by suggesting they reinforce skills taught in the classroom through simple, low-pressure activities. This could involve reading decodable books together or using fun practice materials that align with your instruction.
Encourage families to create a consistent, quiet space for homework and reading. Just as important is fostering a positive attitude toward learning by celebrating effort over perfection. When a child sees that their parents and teachers are on the same team, it builds their confidence and motivation.
Communicate Effectively with Educators
Strong, consistent communication is the glue that holds the school-home partnership together. Effective communication should be a two-way street where both educators and parents feel comfortable sharing updates, asking questions, and celebrating small wins. Establish a predictable communication rhythm, whether it’s a weekly email, a shared digital log, or brief phone calls.
Empower parents to share their observations from home—what’s working, what’s challenging, and any changes they notice in their child’s confidence. This regular exchange of information allows you to make timely adjustments to your intervention plan. When everyone is informed and aligned, you create a seamless support system that helps the student make steady, meaningful progress.
Find the Right Programs and Resources
Finding the right tools and curriculum is a critical step in supporting students in Tier 3. A well-designed program provides the structure you need, while high-quality resources give you the materials to bring your instruction to life. With so many options available, it helps to know what to look for and where to turn for reliable support. The goal is to find a system that aligns with your teaching style and, most importantly, meets the specific needs of your students.
How to Choose an Effective Program
The best Tier 3 interventions are built on the connection between an educator and a student. While technology can offer great practice opportunities, it’s the relationship that truly drives success. Look for a program that empowers you to teach, rather than replacing you. Because students requiring Tier 3 support often have complex challenges, a data-driven plan is essential. An effective school district curriculum should be systematic and explicit, allowing you to observe the student, review their progress, and adjust the intervention as needed. Choose programs grounded in the Science of Reading that give you the framework and flexibility to provide truly individualized instruction.
Our Go-To Resources for Educators
To create a comprehensive support framework, you need to align your teaching practices, interventions, and assessment systems. This ensures you can address the needs of every learner. Start with assessment tools that help you identify exactly where to begin a student’s intervention and when to move them on to the next skill. From there, build a library of materials that support your instruction. High-quality decodable books are non-negotiable for reinforcing phonics skills in a real-world context. You can also lean on professional support networks. Working with trained PRIDE Reading Specialists can provide an extra layer of expertise and guidance as you implement your intervention plan.
Use Technology to Support Intervention
Technology should be used to enhance, not lead, your Tier 3 instruction. While it can provide valuable practice, remember that the relationship between you and your student is what makes the biggest impact. The most effective interventions use technology to create personalized learning experiences that supplement your direct teaching. For example, digital tools can offer engaging ways for students to practice specific skills you’ve already taught. With a structured, team-based approach, schools can make sure Tier 3 interventions are both sustainable and impactful. This gives students the individualized support they need to build confidence and thrive as readers.
Measure Success and Plan Student Transitions
Once a Tier 3 intervention is in place, your focus shifts to tracking progress and making data-informed decisions about what comes next. This is where you get to see the hard work pay off and adjust your sails when needed. The goal isn’t just to provide support, but to provide the right support at the right time. Measuring success is about celebrating small wins, identifying what’s working, and knowing when to pivot. It also helps you create a clear path for your students as they build confidence and skills, whether that means continuing with intensive support or transitioning to a less restrictive setting.
Set Clear Short- and Long-Term Goals
Effective Tier 3 intervention starts with clear, individualized goals. Because every child’s learning journey is unique, the targets you set should be tailored to their specific needs. What works for one student might not work for another, so use the assessment data you’ve gathered to create a personalized roadmap. Think in terms of both short-term and long-term goals. A short-term goal might be mastering the five short vowel sounds within three weeks, while a long-term goal could be reading a decodable book independently by the end of the semester. These goals should be specific, measurable, and realistic, giving both you and your student a clear benchmark for success and a reason to celebrate progress along the way.
Evaluate Your Intervention’s Effectiveness
Regularly checking in on your student’s progress is a non-negotiable part of Tier 3. This isn’t about high-stakes testing; it’s about frequent, informal check-ins to see if your instruction is hitting the mark. You can use quick methods like curriculum-based measurements, exit slips, or simply observing a student as they complete a task. This consistent monitoring provides the data you need to make critical decisions. Is the student closing the gap with their peers? Are they responding to the intervention? The answers to these questions will help you determine if a student should continue with their current plan, receive a different type of support, or begin transitioning to Tier 2. This commitment to data is a core principle of the Science of Reading.
How to Transition Students from Tier 3 Support
The ultimate goal of Tier 3 is to help students build the skills they need to succeed with less intensive support. Your progress monitoring data is your guide for these transitions. If a student is consistently exceeding their goals, it might be time to make their targets more challenging or plan a gradual move to Tier 2. If they are on track, you can continue with the current plan, knowing it’s effective. However, if a student isn’t making adequate progress, it’s a signal to adjust your teaching method. This is often where a dedicated Orton-Gillingham curriculum can make all the difference, as its systematic and multisensory approach is designed for learners who need more explicit instruction.
Related Articles
- Structured Literacy: Tier 3 Intervention Strategies – Structured Literacy | Pride Reading Program
- Effective Tier 3 Reading Programs: A Practical Guide – Structured Literacy | Pride Reading Program
- From Foundations to Flourishing: How Structured Literacy Transforms Reading Proficiency – Structured Literacy | Pride Reading Program
- Decoding and Encoding: The Twin Pillars of Structured Literacy – Structured Literacy | Pride Reading Program
- The Orton-Gillingham Lesson – Structured Literacy | Pride Reading Program
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tier 3 the same thing as special education? This is a great question because the two can overlap, but they aren’t exactly the same thing. Tier 3 is a level of intensive instructional support within a school’s Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework. Any student who needs this level of help can receive it. Special education refers to the services a student is legally entitled to after being formally identified with a disability, like dyslexia. Often, students in special education will receive their reading instruction in a Tier 3 setting, but a student doesn’t have to be in special education to get Tier 3 support.
How long will my student need to be in Tier 3? There isn’t a set timeline for Tier 3 support because it’s completely tailored to the individual student’s progress. The goal is to provide intensive, targeted instruction to help the student close significant learning gaps. Some students may need this level of support for a single school year, while others with more complex learning challenges might need it for longer. The key is consistent progress monitoring. As soon as the data shows a student has built the foundational skills to succeed with less support, the team can begin planning a gradual transition to Tier 2.
Can I implement a Tier 3-style intervention at home? Absolutely. The core principles of Tier 3—explicit, systematic, and multisensory instruction—are not exclusive to a school building. As a parent, you can provide this high level of support at home, especially if you use a curriculum designed for it. A comprehensive, scripted Orton-Gillingham program gives you the tools and lesson plans to deliver the kind of targeted instruction your child needs. The one-on-one setting at home is ideal for providing the focused attention and immediate feedback that make these interventions so effective.
What if my student isn’t making progress even with Tier 3 support? It can feel discouraging when a student continues to struggle despite intensive intervention, but this is valuable information. If you aren’t seeing progress, it’s a signal to re-evaluate the intervention plan. This is the time to dig deeper into your data. Are you using a truly systematic, evidence-based program? Is the instruction frequent and intensive enough? You may need to break down skills into even smaller steps, try different multisensory techniques, or consult with a reading specialist to get another perspective on the student’s specific challenges.
How is Tier 3 different from just getting extra tutoring? While both involve extra help, Tier 3 intervention is fundamentally different from general tutoring. Tutoring often focuses on homework help or re-teaching classroom content.