By Jessica Reid Sliwerski
This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for their daily newsletter.
For decades, the American education system has used third grade, which is already too late, as its primary accountability “gate,” waiting for state test scores before beginning the expensive work of remediation for students who are struggling.
As state assessment scores are released this spring, many district leaders are facing a frustrating plateau. After years of overhauling curricula and retraining staff in the science of reading, the expected surge in proficiency hasn’t materialized.
The natural impulse is to question the curriculum or the research — or worse, to blame the teachers who have worked tirelessly to implement it. But the issue often isn’t the content. It’s the timing and delivery. We have updated the “what” of literacy instruction, but we have yet to build the engine for the “how” and the “when.”
The science of reading, a phonics-based approach to instruction, is a call to align teaching with how the brain learns to read. Research is clear: Roughly 60% of students need more intensive support than even the best classroom teacher can provide alone. I know because I’ve been that teacher.
Research also shows that 88% of students who struggle to read in first grade will still be struggling in fourth. Not because they can’t learn, but because we waited too long to help them.
Most schools organize reading support in three tiers: Tier 1 is whole-class instruction; Tier 2 is small-group, targeted support for students showing early signs of struggle; Tier 3 is intensive, one-on-one intervention for those with the greatest needs. Districts are only halfway through the science of reading transition. They have fixed Tier 1, but the infrastructure for Tiers 2 and 3 has yet to be built, and no classroom teacher can fill that gap alone.
Research is clear: Roughly 60% of students need more intensive support than even the best classroom teacher can provide alone.
New data from Johns Hopkins University confirms just how urgent this is. In a multiyear study of nearly 1,600 students, researchers found that 85% of first-graders who reached reading proficiency maintained that success through second grade without further support. For those who missed the benchmark, only 12% caught up without intensive, ongoing help. Miss the first-grade window, and you aren’t just teaching reading, you are fighting a compounding skill gap.
So how do we fill the gap? If you’re a family with means, you hire a tutor. This raises a fundamental issue of equity. Literacy support cannot remain a luxury for families who can afford private tutors. The system must operationalize high-dosage tutoring for every at-risk child, shifting from reactive remediation after failed third-grade tests to just-in-time intervention in first grade. Tutoring must become permanent Tiers 2 and 3 infrastructure, not a temporary “learning recovery” program.
The good news: Identifying which students need support has never been easier. Teachers use brief, structured assessments — called universal screeners — to pinpoint phonics gaps within the first weeks of school. California recently mandated a reading difficulties screener for all K–2 students, reflecting growing recognition that early identification is the prerequisite for early action. But a screener without an intervention infrastructure is just a diagnosis with no prescription.
High-dosage, high-impact tutoring is the gold standard for closing reading gaps, but daily one-on-one sessions create a staffing bottleneck for labor-strapped districts. Virtual tutoring programs solve this by pairing students with live, remote tutors during the school day. AI-assisted tools can support older students, but they cannot replicate the auditory precision or emotional encouragement a young child needs when learning to decode.
To realize the promise of the science of reading, districts must make three shifts:
- Prioritize prevention over remediation: Treat reading proficiency at the end of first grade as a non-negotiable goal. Mastering foundational skills early protects students against failure before they ever reach a high-stakes state test.
- Build scalable literacy engines: Effective intervention requires frequency and consistency; ideally, daily, individualized 15-minute sessions with a consistent tutor. This cannot be an “add-on” for a classroom teacher. It must be a dedicated infrastructure built into the school’s literacy ecosystem.
- Target Each Child’s Specific Gaps: General small-group instruction is not a substitute for precise intervention. Success requires identifying exactly where each student is on the continuum from phonics to fluency and addressing that specific gap, not teaching to a group average.
The science of reading is not a failed experiment. It is an unfinished one. The curriculum is right. The teachers are trained. Now we must build the delivery model that science has always demanded and that our kids deserve.
District leaders do not need to go back to the drawing board. They need to finish what they started by moving intensive intervention to the front of the K–2 experience. When we secure the first-grade window, we don’t just improve scores, we give every child the foundational skills they need for a lifetime of learning.
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Jessica Reid Sliwerski is the CEO and co-founder of Ignite Reading, an Oakland-based virtual tutoring program.
The opinions in this commentary are those of the author.
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Previously published on EdSource
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Photo Credit: Ignite Reading
