Picture a kindergartner. Let’s call her Emma. She loves story time and can recite Goldilocks and the Three Bears by heart. Rhyming games trip her up, though, and she takes longer than most of her classmates to learn her letters. Her teacher has a hunch something’s up. But plenty of five-year-olds take a while to find their literacy footing, and without a way to know for sure if Emma’s truly struggling, the natural move may be to wait and see.
Fast-forward to third grade. The books are longer; the words are harder. Emma has started zoning out during the reading block. An evaluation finally delivers an answer: dyslexia.
While the signs were there in kindergarten, the diagnosis didn’t happen until valuable time to build foundational skills with support had been lost. Sadly, that’s true for many students with dyslexia: Early, targeted instruction can change their literacy trajectory, but the later intervention starts, the lower the odds that a struggling reader will become a proficient one.
A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is how schools address problems early, preventing students from falling far behind. Let’s look at how an MTSS works for students with dyslexia, from the first screener to the most intensive support.
Why third-grade reading trouble starts in kindergarten
Dyslexia is a neurobiological learning difference that can make accurate, fluent word reading and spelling more difficult. Somewhere between 15 and 20% of Americans show signs of it. It runs in families, and it ranges from mild to profound.
Think of dyslexia as a chain reaction in reading development. Difficulty connecting letters and sounds can make decoding more effortful, which can make accurate, fluent word reading harder to learn.
The first links in the chain can be subtle and easy to miss. Signs may emerge before school, but become more apparent in the classroom. As texts get longer and words become more complex, reading difficulties may become easier to notice.
Sadly, waiting to address those early signs has an emotional cost. Repeated reading struggles can affect a student’s confidence and identity as a reader.
But there is much cause for hope: The brain is adaptable, and early, targeted instruction can change the whole story for students like Emma.
Early identification of dyslexia risk: Universal screening in elementary school
Universal screening is just what it sounds like. It checks every student, including the ones who seem to be doing just fine.
A diagnostic assessment is like a mechanic taking a closer look under the hood to understand how a car runs and where adjustments could help. A screener can flag when a student may benefit from support; a diagnostic assessment can pinpoint which sound and letter skills to build on next, so instruction can build on what the student already knows.
Good screeners are quick, valid, and reliable, and they’re given several times a year. Within an MTSS, universal screening helps flag students who may be at risk for dyslexia. Depending on the screener and grade, measures may include phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and word reading.
And good screeners don’t stop in kindergarten. Screening throughout the early elementary grades gives schools more than one chance to spot a kid who needs help.
One screener, two languages
For multilingual students, an English-only screener can tell a misleading story. Screening only in English can over-identify multilingual/English learners as being at risk for dyslexia. In a 2019 University of Oregon study of Spanish-speaking preschoolers, 63% appeared to need Tier 2 or Tier 3 support when they were tested in English. When they were tested in Spanish, that number fell to 21%.
Screening in both languages gets at the real question: Is a low score a sign of a language difference or a literacy challenge? Get that answer right, and you’ll help ensure intervention reaches the students who need it—without placing students whose skills haven’t been assessed in their home language into intervention they don’t need.
Structured literacy and tiered reading interventions for students with dyslexia
Once screening flags a student as having meaningful reading difficulties, the next question is: How much help does this student need? That’s what the tiers in an MTSS are for. Each offers more intensive support than the last.
What stays the same is the kind of instruction. Every tier is built on structured literacy: explicit, systematic teaching of how sounds and letters work, rooted in the Science of Reading. For students with dyslexia, instruction grounded in structured literacy is exactly the right approach, because it goes straight to the sound-processing differences at the heart of dyslexia.
Tier 1: Every classroom, every student
Tier 1 is the high-quality core literacy instruction every student receives. It includes explicit, systematic teaching of foundational skills, such as how sounds and letters work. Students with dyslexia should have access to that instruction from day one, though some will also need targeted support. In an MTSS, teams use screening and other evidence to check how well core instruction is working and decide what support comes next.
Tier 2: Targeted small-group support
Think of Tier 2 as Tier 1 with the volume turned up: Students continue receiving core instruction while also getting supplemental, targeted support in skills identified through assessment. That may mean smaller groups, more frequent sessions, and more explicit, focused practice.
Tier 2 should stay connected to Tier 1. If a student is practicing short-vowel patterns in a small group, that work should reinforce the relevant skills and routines being taught in the classroom.
Tier 3: Intensive intervention
Tier 3 provides the most intensive support—often even smaller groups, more frequent sessions, and increasingly focused instruction, guided by diagnostic assessment and ongoing progress monitoring. For students with dyslexia, Tier 3 is part of a responsive system that matches support to their needs.
Progress monitoring for dyslexia: Data-driven instruction in an MTSS
Screening tells you who needs additional support. Progress monitoring tells you whether it’s working.
In an MTSS, screening and progress monitoring data do double duty. They identify students at risk, and they show how well each tier of instruction is working. For a student with dyslexia, frequent check-ins answer key questions: Is this student responding? Which skills are they building? Which skills require more time? Does the student need more support?
In short, regular data keeps instruction matched to where each student is right now.
The same kid, a different third grade
Back to Emma. In this version of her story, a kindergarten screener flags her as at risk for dyslexia. A follow-up diagnostic assessment helps pinpoint her needs in rhyming and letter knowledge. Structured literacy in the classroom, targeted small-group practice, and regular check-ins help her teachers adjust the support she receives.
The difference is timing: Emma gets support in kindergarten, instead of a new diagnosis in third grade.
Emma’s story shows how an MTSS can support students with dyslexia: Screen early. Build every tier on structured literacy. Match support to need. Use assessment and progress-monitoring data to guide next steps, so students get the right support at the right time.
Go deeper with the Dyslexia Support Power Pack.
An MTSS gives you a framework; the free Dyslexia Support Power Pack brings together resources to help you identify dyslexia risk and plan responsive literacy support.
Inside, you’ll find:
- The Dyslexia Toolkit, with strategies for screening students, identifying dyslexia risk, and planning responsive literacy instruction.
- The Dyslexia Fact vs. Fiction ebook, with evidence-based information that separates common myths from facts.
- A dyslexia infographic, with key information including dyslexia’s definition, signs, and symptoms.
- The Right Support at the Right Time: Using an MTSS to Support Students With Dyslexia. New this year, this guide connects universal screening, structured literacy, and the use of an MTSS to help educators provide timely, targeted instruction.
Download the free Dyslexia Support Power Pack.
Looking for a screener? Learn more about the mCLASS dyslexia screener.
