Editor’s note: This essay is an entry in Fordham’s 2025 Wonkathon, which asked contributors to answer this question: “What needs to happen next—at the state, district, and school levels—for the science of reading revolution to fulfill its promise and ensure that far more children learn to read well?” Learn more.
For older students who are still learning to read, every moment of instructional time is precious.
In the current system, reading intervention and core curriculum are siloed: Foundational skill-building is addressed in a way that is entirely distinct from grade-level content. Student achievement is measured based on grade level standards. If they are not proficient readers by fourth grade, their instruction becomes disconnected, creating a catch-22 for middle and high school students who are not able to read texts at grade level, and for their educators.
We are at a crucial crossroads for adolescent literacy progress, with a major opportunity to accelerate learning and foster meaningful, lasting progress for striving readers in grades 3–12. So, how do we seize the moment to enact transformative change here?
On the state level, we need to look at enacting policy and offering incentives to address the Science of reading beyond third grade. There has been a promising movement in literacy policy in recent years, but it is almost exclusively focused on K–3. Given that close to 70 percent of today’s middle and high school students lack key foundational literacy skills, this policy needs to extend to students who have already moved past third grade without yet being able to read. This would include policy that not only assesses schools based on the number of students achieving alongside grade level standards, but also those showing movement and growth in foundational literacy skills.
At the district level, we need to find ways to give students credit for their intervention classes. So often, intervention does not happen during the school day because students need to attain a set number of credits to graduate. To incentivize both students and teachers to show up for foundational skill interventions, schools need to make them credit-bearing. The main argument against doing this is that interventions historically haven’t addressed interdisciplinary grade level standards. When districts choose high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) for Tier 1, they also need to look at HQIM for Tiers 2 and 3, selecting intervention materials that can reinforce and add to what students are learning in their core subjects.
At the school level, we need to focus on programming—on making time in the school day for interventions to take place. It is imperative to schedule in blocks of time when students can get the support that meets them where they are at and takes them to where they need to be. This can be very challenging to do in departmentalized settings, but it can also be an opportunity for flexibility and creativity with WIN (What I Need) periods or strategic ways to do independent reading. Additionally, we need to provide secondary educators with the training and resources they need to address foundational literacy skills alongside grade level content.
Why connect reading intervention with core curriculum?
- Maximize student engagement: When literacy skills are taught alongside interdisciplinary content that interests students, learners are far more likely to see reading as relevant, and motivation increases. Struggling readers, in particular, need to connect their skill development with real-life meaning and grade-level goals.
- Accelerate skill transfer: Isolating phonics, fluency, or vocabulary practice can make it difficult for students to apply new skills beyond isolated drills. By embedding these skills in the context of core subjects, students have repeated, authentic opportunities to transfer and reinforce their learning.
- Bridge opportunity gaps: Many struggling adolescent readers have endured years of fragmented instruction. Bringing foundational skill development into the heart of the core curriculum is a powerful equity move. It ensures all students, regardless of starting point, are included in rigorous learning and not left behind or pulled out from meaningful content.
- Build background knowledge: Research is clear—comprehension improves when students have a strong base of background knowledge. Teaching word study, morphology, and decoding within the context of science, history, and literature simultaneously builds students’ vocabulary, content knowledge, and analytical skills.
- Foster independence: When students see the direct relationship between what they're learning in intervention and what they need in their other classes, they are more likely to develop independence and confidence as readers and learners.
How to connect intervention and core curriculum
- Select authentic, connected texts: Choose decodable books and instructional passages that are thematically or topically linked to grade-level curriculum—such as texts on Ancient Greece when studying mythology or high-frequency word practice that mirrors the language of foundational documents like the U.S. Constitution.
- Integrate vocabulary and knowledge-building: While teaching decoding, also introduce key vocabulary words from content classes. For example, teach the Greek and Latin roots that will appear in both intervention texts and social studies lessons. This dual exposure builds both linguistic flexibility and academic readiness.
- Use content-driven fluency practice: Have students practice fluency with passages that reinforce science or social studies standards. Fluency practice becomes purposeful when students can connect the text to their broader learning.
- Teach analytical skills across levels: Text analysis—such as identifying main ideas, analyzing plot, or using context clues—should not be reserved for high-level literature alone. These critical thinking skills can and should be taught with accessible, decodable texts, as well, paving the way for success with grade-level materials.
- Apply backward design: Start with the end in mind. Identify the grade-level skills and standards students are expected to master, then plan step-by-step instruction and scaffolded support that brings every student closer to accessing and mastering those goals.
- Collaborate across teams: Encourage interventionists and core content teachers to co-plan and communicate regularly. Align interventions with upcoming class topics and share strategies for reinforcing skills across settings.
- Monitor and celebrate progress: Use formative assessments that measure not only foundational reading growth but also students’ increasing ability to comprehend and analyze grade-level content. Celebrate when students can contribute confidently to mainstream classroom activities.
At Storyshares, this integrated approach is core to our programs, like LIFT (Literacy Intervention for Teens). Our model deliberately blurs the line between intervention and core curriculum so that all students, regardless of their current skill level, are growing toward grade-level standards. Our lessons build decoding and fluency skills within knowledge-rich, relevant contexts, showing students that foundational skills are not an end in themselves, but a bridge to understanding and engaging with the world around them.
In summary, while it may be tempting to see reading intervention and core curriculum as separate endeavors, the most transformative and equitable instruction purposefully connects the two. When foundational skill-building is woven through meaningful, grade-level content, we empower students not only to catch up but to truly thrive—both as readers and as learners.
Want to learn more about our groundbreaking solution for adolescent literacy intervention? Discover LIFT.
