Using the Instructional Level as a Criterion to Target Reading Interventions

The instructional hierarchy offers a useful framework for targeting academic interventions. Within this framework, the accuracy with which a student reads might function as an indicator that the student should receive an intervention that focuses either on accuracy or on fluency. The current study examined whether the instructional level for reading (93%–97% of words read correctly) could be used to target interventions that first facilitated accurate responding and subsequently facilitated faster rates of fluency growth. Each of 3 third-grade students had faster growth rates in the second phase of a fluency-focused reading intervention following an intervention that resulted in the students reading at least 93% of the words correctly. We discuss implications and limitations of the current study for applying the instructional hierarchy and the instructional level to target reading interventions.