ABSTRACT
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) supports whole-school systems of support that address intervention for students at risk for academic or behavioral difficulties as early as preschool and continuing through increasingly intensive tiers of support in elementary and secondary grades. In the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act, states and districts have been encouraged to consider responsiveness to scientifically based instruction and intervention as one of many markers of potential eligibility for special education under the category of learning disabilities. Over time, these systems have been called layered interventions, response to intervention, and multi-tiered systems of support. This marshalling of school and district resources is meant to improve opportunities to learn prior to identifying students who may be eligible for assistance through special education services. Recent research into Tier 3 approaches has suggested instructional modifications to Tier 2 procedures can increase the rate of reading acquisition for some students with pervasive reading difficulties.
