Written by: Elisabeth Lamoureaux, Professional Learning Director – Leadership & Implementation
Learning to read is already a complex task. For students who struggle, success depends on clear, consistent, and cumulative instruction. But in many schools, students receiving intervention experience the opposite. They move between settings with different routines, different language, and different instructional approaches. Instead of reducing complexity, the system increases it. In some cases, students receiving the most support experience the greatest inconsistency in instruction across their day.
In many schools, literacy improvement efforts focus heavily on Tier 1 core instruction. This focus is critical. When Tier 1 is strong and evidence-aligned, more students receive the instruction they need during core classroom time. But improving Tier 1 alone is often not enough. Students who need additional support rely on Tier 2 and Tier 3 instruction. Misaligned tiers can slow learning rather than accelerate it.
Part of the challenge is how tiers are often understood. In many schools, tiers are viewed as separate locations or programs rather than levels of instructional support within a unified literacy system. Tier 1 happens in the classroom. Tier 2 and Tier 3 may involve a different location, staff, materials, and routines. When tiers are organized this way, students experience different instructional materials, routines, gestures, terminology, and approaches. Instead of reinforcing learning, these differences create fragmentation. Students receiving intervention often experience the least coherence in their literacy instruction.
This also increases students’ cognitive demand. Rather than focusing their effort on learning to read, students must constantly adjust to new routines, language, and instructional expectations across settings. Research from Vaughn and Fletcher highlights this concern. Students with reading difficulties often receive core instruction and supplemental intervention that have little alignment, requiring them to integrate learning from different approaches (Vaughn & Fletcher, 2021). Our neediest students are therefore managing the greatest instructional complexity, which can slow their progress.
Alignment across tiers reduces this burden. Intervention should reinforce core instruction and provide additional intensity for students who are not making progress, rather than introducing a separate system of learning. Forsythe and Stukey (2020) reinforce this point, noting that a high-quality MTSS framework depends not only on explicit and systematic instruction at each tier but on ensuring that Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions build directly from Tier I instruction. Alignment between tiers supports smoother transitions, consistent instructional routines, and more effective practice opportunities for students.
The Role of MTSS in Alignment
Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) are sometimes misunderstood. Tiers are often treated as separate programs, locations, or staff responsibilities rather than levels of instructional support within a unified literacy system. In a well-designed MTSS framework, Tier 2 and Tier 3 build from and intensify the same instructional foundations as Tier 1. Intervention strengthens core instruction by providing more explicit instruction, additional guided practice, and opportunities to practice skills in multiple contexts. Even when interventionists have specialized training, their work must align with core instruction and the overall system. Students cannot experience multiple disconnected approaches and still make optimal progress. Forsythe and Stukey highlight that instruction must be coordinated across tiers; misalignment reduces efficiency and limits student growth, even if the programs at each tier are high-quality on their own.
Examining Alignment and Intensification Across Tiers
Alignment across tiers rarely happens automatically. Leaders must intentionally examine how core instruction and intervention work together to ensure students receive coherent, reinforced, and sufficiently intensive support. Reflection questions can guide this work:
Leaders may also consider conducting an intervention audit to examine how instruction functions across tiers. This reflective process can help teams review resources, routines, instructional language, scope and sequence, intensity, collaboration, and assessment practices. The goal is to identify where intervention reinforces core instruction, where it may unintentionally compete with it, and where additional intensity or coordination is required to meet students’ needs. When these elements are aligned and responsive, Tier 2 and Tier 3 function as extensions of core instruction, reinforcing foundational skills while providing the support students need to make progress. Forsythe and Stukey emphasize that alignment is a key determinant of student success within MTSS, especially for the highest-need readers.
Leadership Action Step: Follow a Student’s Experience
School leaders can gain insight into why a student may not be making expected progress by examining a student’s instructional experience during intensive intervention and their core ELA class. Key questions include:
While alignment and intensification across tiers support most students, a subset of students may require instruction that is qualitatively different rather than simply more or better-aligned. For example, students with dyslexia or significant language delays may need highly structured, explicit, and multisensory instruction within a scripted program that is taught with fidelity. Others may benefit from interventions that address executive functioning or self-regulation alongside literacy skills. Leaders play a critical role in building these systems, monitoring data, and coordinating efforts to ensure supports are coherent across tiers. By actively coordinating and overseeing these efforts, leaders ensure that each student experiences instruction that is coherent, appropriately intensive, and tailored to their identified learning needs.
This process helps leaders identify where instruction aligns with the student’s needs, where it unintentionally competes, and where intensity needs to be increased. Ensuring that practice and instruction across tiers target the same skill gaps reduces cognitive load and accelerates learning for students with the greatest needs (Vaughn & Fletcher, 2021; Brown & Stollar, 2025; Forsythe & Stukey, 2020).
Sources:
Brown, S., & Stollar, S. (2025). MTSS for reading improvement: A leader’s guide to supporting every reader. Corwin.
Fixsen, D. L., Naoom, S. F., Blase, K. A., Friedman, R. M., & Wallace, F. (2010). Implementation research: A synthesis of the literature. University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute.
Forsythe, L., & Stukey, M. R. (2020). Aligning a system of support to reach all readers. Center for the Collaborative Classroom.
Vaughn, S., & Fletcher, J. M. (2021). Identifying and teaching students with significant reading problems. American Educator
