Questions to ask about school reading interventions

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

Ask the school five kinds of questions about reading intervention: what skill your child is missing, what teaching they get and how often, who teaches it, how progress is measured, and what happens if progress is slow. Write the answers on a sheet, ask to see the progress data, and set a date to check in again in 6 to 8 weeks.

When your child gets extra reading help at school, you have the right to understand it. Good questions get you clear answers: what your child is learning, how often, and whether it is working. This page gives you a fill-in question sheet, a completed example, and notes on what a strong answer sounds like.

You can use the sheet at a parent-teacher conference, an intervention meeting or an IEP meeting. You can also email the questions ahead of time, which gives the school time to bring data.

The fill-in question sheet

Copy the questions. Write the school's answers in the right column.

Topic	Question	School's answer
The skill	1. What reading skill is my child missing?
The skill	2. How did you find that out? Which test or check?
The teaching	3. What does my child do in intervention?
The teaching	4. How many minutes a day, and how many days a week?
The teaching	5. How many children are in the group?
The teacher	6. Who teaches the group, and what training do they have in reading?
The teacher	7. Does my child miss regular reading class for this?
Progress	8. How often do you check my child's progress?
Progress	9. What is my child's goal, and by when?
Progress	10. Can I see the scores or the graph?
Next steps	11. What will you change if my child does not make enough progress?
Next steps	12. When will we look at the data together again?
Home	13. What can we practice at home, and what should I say when my child is stuck?

Completed example

This example is fictional. Jada is in 2nd grade. Her mother met with the reading specialist in October.

Topic	Question	School's answer
The skill	1. What reading skill is my child missing?	Jada knows her letter sounds but has trouble reading words with blends, like "stop" and "frog."
The skill	2. How did you find that out?	A fall screening, then a phonics check of 20 words with blends. She read 6 correctly.
The teaching	3. What does my child do in intervention?	Practice blending sounds, building words with letter tiles, spelling and reading short books with blend words.
The teaching	4. How many minutes and days?	30 minutes, 4 days a week.
The teaching	5. How many children?	Four.
The teacher	6. Who teaches it?	The reading specialist, who has a reading endorsement and phonics training.
The teacher	7. Does she miss regular reading class?	No. It happens during the grade's intervention block.
Progress	8. How often do you check progress?	Every week, with a 1-minute reading and a 20-word blend list.
Progress	9. What is her goal?	Read 18 of 20 blend words and 50 words correctly per minute by February.
Progress	10. Can I see the scores?	Yes. The teacher shared the chart below.
Next steps	11. What if progress is slow?	After 6 weeks of flat scores, the group meets 5 days a week or gets smaller.
Next steps	12. When do we meet again?	December 5.
Home	13. What can we do at home?	Read the weekly book together. When she is stuck, point to the letters and ask her to sound it out.

The data the school shared:

Week	Blend words (of 20)	Words read correctly in 1 minute	Accuracy
Oct 2	6	28	80%
Oct 9	8	30	83%
Oct 16	9	31	84%
Oct 23	11	34	87%

These numbers are illustrations. A chart like this usually comes from a reading fluency data sheet. The oral reading fluency guide explains what the 1-minute reading measures.

What a strong answer sounds like

Questions 1 and 2: the skill. A strong answer names a specific skill and a test. "She's a little behind" is vague. "She read 6 of 20 words with blends" is clear.

Questions 3 to 5: the teaching. Listen for teaching that is direct and planned: the teacher shows the skill, the children practice it and read it in books. Small groups of 2 to 5 are common. The What Works Clearinghouse guide on reading intervention describes small-group teaching on a few key skills, several times a week, for students who are behind.^[1]

Questions 6 and 7: the teacher. You want a trained adult and no lost reading class. If your child misses core reading for intervention, ask whether the time can move.

Questions 8 to 10: progress. A strong answer gives a schedule, a goal with a date and real numbers. Weekly or every-other-week checks are common for children who are far behind. Ask to see a graph. A graph shows whether scores go up over time.

Questions 11 and 12: next steps. Schools should have a plan for what to change if progress is slow, like more time or a smaller group. A date to meet again keeps it from drifting.

Question 13: home. The best answer gives you exact words to use. Our home-school reading activities sheet shows what that looks like.

If the answers worry you

No clear skill or test. Ask for a skill check, such as a phonics test.
No progress data. Ask the school to start weekly checks and share them.
Slow progress for a long time. You can ask for a special education evaluation at any time. Schools may not use intervention to delay or deny an evaluation when a disability is suspected.^[2] See how to request an IEP evaluation.
Your child already has an IEP. Ask how intervention connects to the IEP reading goals and services.

Next steps

Keep your filled-in sheet. Bring it to the next meeting and compare the new answers with the old ones. If you are unsure whether your child gets intervention or special education, read reading intervention vs special education. For broader IEP meeting questions, see questions to ask at the IEP meeting. The reading goal bank shows what written reading goals look like.

Your state's Parent Training and Information Center can help you prepare for meetings and understand your rights. The Center for Parent Information and Resources lists every center.^[3]

Frequently asked questions

Can I ask to see my child's reading intervention data?

Yes. Ask the teacher for the scores and a graph. Most schools that run intervention check progress often and can share the numbers. Seeing them helps you know whether the help is working.

How long should reading intervention last before we see progress?

Many schools look at 6 to 8 weeks of weekly data before deciding whether to change the plan. Ask the school what its timeline and decision rule are.

What if my child has been in intervention for a long time without catching up?

Ask what has changed in the plan and see the data. You can also ask for a special education evaluation in writing at any time. Intervention cannot be used to delay or deny one.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades, What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences
OSEP Memo 11-07: Response to Intervention (RTI) (January 21, 2011), U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs
Center for Parent Information and Resources, CPIR

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.