Measuring Instructional Interactions During Reading Instruction for Students Receiving Intervention in Middle School.

This article examines the frequency and quality of instructional interactions between eighth-grade teachers and students with reading difficulties, comparing those who received targeted reading interventions to those who did not. Using a regression discontinuity design with a sample of 5,753 students from six U.S. school districts, the study found that students in reading intervention classes experienced significantly more instructional interactions than their peers in English language arts (ELA) classes, though the quality of instruction and content coverage were similar across groups. However, the frequency of instructional interactions was not systematically related to students' severity of reading difficulties, nor was it significantly associated with reading growth outcomes. The findings suggest that while reading interventions increase teacher–student interactions, schools may need to better align instructional intensity with individual student needs to improve reading proficiency among struggling middle school readers.