Reading intervention plan template

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

A reading intervention plan records why the student needs support, the skill targeted, the program, the group size, minutes and staff, the progress measure and schedule, the goal and the decision rule. Fill in the template below from screening and diagnostic data, track the probe on a reading fluency data sheet, and review the plan every 6 to 8 weeks.

An intervention plan is the one page that tells anyone, a new interventionist, a principal, a parent or an evaluation team, what the school is doing about a student's reading and whether it is working. A good plan is specific enough that someone else could pick it up tomorrow and deliver the same intervention.

This page gives the fill-in template, a completed example for a fictional student and notes on what reviewers and parents look for in each section. For the full process the plan comes from, see the reading intervention pillar. For the daily lesson, see the small-group reading lesson plan.

The fill-in template

Copy the table into your own document. Each row is one section of the plan.

Section	What to write
1. Student and dates	Name, grade, teacher, plan start date, review dates
2. Reason for the plan	Screening measure, date, score and band
3. Diagnostic findings	What is solid, where the gap starts, with numbers
4. Target skill	One or two skills, named precisely
5. Intervention	Program or method, tier, group size, sessions per week, minutes, staff, location, time of day
6. Progress measure	Probe name, form level, score, how often, who gives it
7. Baseline	Median of 3 probes, with date and accuracy if relevant
8. Goal and goal line	Target score, target date, expected growth per week
9. Decision rule	The rule the team will apply and how often graphs are reviewed
10. Fidelity and attendance	How sessions and attendance are logged; minimum attendance expected
11. Family communication	How and when the family hears about progress
12. Review log	Date, data summary, decision, next step, people present

Completed example: Maya, grade 2

This example is fictional. Numbers are illustrations, not benchmarks.

Section	Entry
1. Student and dates	Maya R., grade 2, Ms. Lopez's class. Start September 23. Reviews November 4, December 16 and at winter benchmark in January.
2. Reason for the plan	Fall screening (September 10): oral reading fluency 24 words correct per minute with 82% accuracy, in the "well below benchmark" band. Nonsense word fluency also well below benchmark.
3. Diagnostic findings	Phonics survey (September 16): letter sounds 26 of 26; CVC words 11 of 20, confusing short e and short i; blends 6 of 20. Blending is slow and letter by letter. Listening comprehension for a grade 2 story is a strength: 5 of 5 questions.
4. Target skill	Short-vowel CVC decoding with continuous blending, then initial and final blends.
5. Intervention	Tier 2. Explicit phonics lessons from the school's adopted decoding program, with decodable text. Group of 3. 30 minutes, 4 days a week, 2:10 to 2:40 in the intervention room, with Mr. Patel, reading interventionist.
6. Progress measure	Weekly 1-minute grade 2 passage (words correct per minute and accuracy), Mondays. Every other Monday, a 20-word CVC list (10 real, 10 made-up). Given by Mr. Patel.
7. Baseline	Passages September 17 to 19: 22, 26, 24. Median 24 WCPM, 82% accuracy. CVC list 11 of 20.
8. Goal and goal line	50 WCPM with at least 93% accuracy by January 20, about 17 weeks, or 1.5 words per week. CVC list 18 of 20 by November 4.
9. Decision rule	Four-point rule after every probe. If the last 4 points all fall below the goal line, the team checks attendance, minutes and fidelity, then makes one change. Full review every 6 weeks.
10. Fidelity and attendance	Mr. Patel logs each session (held or not, minutes, lesson number). Expected attendance 90% or higher. The literacy coach observes one session in October.
11. Family communication	Letter home September 20 explaining the group. Graph sent home at each review. Family invited to call with questions.
12. Review log	November 4: passages 24 to 33 WCPM; CVC list 17 of 20; 23 of 24 sessions held. Decision: continue; move to blends next week. Present: Mr. Patel, Ms. Lopez, coach.

Notes on each section: what reviewers and parents look for

1 and 2. Student and reason. Reviewers check that the plan starts from data, not a hunch. Give the measure, date and score. Parents want to know why their child was picked, in plain words: "On the fall reading check, Maya read 24 words correctly in one minute."

3. Diagnostic findings. This is the section most plans skip and the one that matters most. A plan that says "decoding" without numbers cannot be checked later. Show what is solid as well as what is weak. Parents notice when strengths are named. The diagnostic reading assessment guide shows what to gather.

4. Target skill. One or two skills, named so precisely that a substitute would know what to teach. "Reading" is not a target; "short-vowel CVC words with continuous blending" is.

5. Intervention. Reviewers look for dosage: group size, sessions, minutes and who teaches. These details are what a later review uses to decide whether the plan was actually delivered. Name the time of day so everyone can see it does not replace core reading. The What Works Clearinghouse guide on primary-grade reading support describes small-group sessions three to five times a week for 20 to 40 minutes as typical for this level of support.^[1]

6 and 7. Measure and baseline. The probe must measure the target skill, and the baseline must use the same probe. Take three probes and use the median. Record the probes on the reading fluency data sheet, which has columns for date, WCPM, accuracy and the goal line, so the graph builds itself as you go. The oral reading fluency measurement guide covers probe rules.

8. Goal and goal line. Reviewers check that the goal is ambitious and that the growth rate is written down. The National Center on Intensive Intervention describes setting goals from benchmarks, norms or an expected rate of improvement.^[2] State which you used.

9. Decision rule. Write it before the first probe. Parents should hear in advance when the team will decide whether the plan is working, so a change in October is expected rather than alarming. The how long to run a reading intervention guide explains the common rules.

10. Fidelity and attendance. A flat graph means nothing if half the sessions did not happen. A simple log answers that question in seconds.

11. Family communication. Families should see the graph, not just hear "she's doing great." Note that a parent can request a special education evaluation at any time, and an intervention plan cannot be used to delay one.^[3]

12. Review log. Each entry should state the data, the decision and the reason. If the student is later evaluated for a learning disability, this log helps document the instruction provided and the repeated assessments of progress the team must consider.^[4]

Adapting the template

Tier 3: add a section for the diagnostic data that drove each change and a change log on the graph. Plans are reviewed more often, and the group is smaller.
Student with an IEP: if the intervention delivers part of the IEP's specially designed instruction, list the IEP goal it serves and use the same probe as the goal. The reading IEP goals library has templates in matching units, such as the unpracticed passage goal and the CVC decoding goal.
Older students: swap passages for grade-level text and add a maze or comprehension probe once decoding is solid.
English learners: record English proficiency level and note whether errors reflect decoding or unfamiliar vocabulary.

Next steps

Frequently asked questions

What should a reading intervention plan include?

The reason for the plan, diagnostic findings, the target skill, the program with group size, minutes and staff, the progress measure and baseline, the goal and goal line, the decision rule, attendance and fidelity logging, family communication and a review log.

Is a reading intervention plan the same as an IEP?

No. An intervention plan is a general education document for any student receiving extra support. An IEP is a legal document for a student found eligible for special education. A student with an IEP may also have an intervention plan when a group delivers part of their services.

How often should a reading intervention plan be reviewed?

Apply the decision rule after every probe and hold a full review every 6 to 8 weeks. Tier 3 plans are often reviewed more often. Record each review's data, decision and reason in the log.

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
Progress Monitoring: Data & Goal Setting, National Center on Intensive Intervention
OSEP Memo 11-07: Response to Intervention (RTI) (January 21, 2011), U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs
34 CFR §300.309: Determining the existence of a specific learning disability, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)

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.