ELA Supports: From Decoding to Written Expression: Layering Services for Real Student Growth

By: Dr. Gabrielle Baker, President & Advocate

When families think about reading and writing supports in an IEP, they often imagine isolated skills: decoding, comprehension, spelling, or written expression. But effective literacy instruction isn’t a checklist; it’s a layered system. When each skill is addressed alone, students make inconsistent progress. When supports are integrated and intentionally aligned, students build the foundation they need to become confident, independent readers and writers.

At Education Advocates of America, we help parents and schools understand how these layers work together, how they should appear in an IEP, and what it looks like when a child is genuinely supported.

Why Layered ELA Supports Matter

Reading and writing are complex processes. Students rarely struggle because of a single weakness; it is usually a combination of skills interacting with one another. A gap in one area can directly affect performance in the next.

A child with weak phonemic awareness will have difficulty decoding. Slow or inaccurate decoding impacts fluency. Weak fluency makes comprehension harder. And all of these skills influence the student’s ability to generate ideas, organize thoughts, and produce written work.

Literacy skills are interconnected. A strong support plan recognizes this and builds in layers, not isolated interventions.

Layer 1: Decoding and Word Recognition

Decoding is the foundation of all literacy. Without accurate word reading, higher-level tasks become unnecessarily difficult.

Effective decoding supports may include explicit phonics instruction, phonemic awareness intervention, Orton-Gillingham or Structured Literacy programs, multisensory teaching, and daily opportunities to apply new skills in connected text.

Signs that a child may need decoding support include guessing words from pictures, slow or effortful reading, difficulty blending or segmenting sounds, and inconsistent spelling patterns.

In an IEP, decoding support should be clear and measurable. “Reading help as needed” is not sufficient.

Layer 2: Fluency

Once a student can decode, they must learn to read with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression. Fluency is often misunderstood as simply reading quickly, but it is really about reading in a way that supports meaning.

Fluency instruction may include modeled reading, repeated readings, timed and untimed practice, vocabulary previews, and guided partner reading.

Fluency goals should reflect grade-level expectations while also being individualized to reduce pressure and build confidence.

Layer 3: Comprehension

Strong comprehension instruction goes far beyond answering questions about a passage. Students need direct teaching in skills such as identifying main idea and details, making inferences, understanding cause and effect, recognizing text structure, retelling, summarizing, and using annotation strategies.

If a child’s IEP includes comprehension goals but their decoding and fluency remain weak, progress will be limited. Comprehension becomes meaningful once the foundational layers are secure.

Layer 4: Written Expression

Written expression is one of the most challenging academic tasks because it requires the coordination of so many skills at once: idea generation, organization, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, stamina, and executive functioning.

If a child struggles in reading, those struggles often appear in writing as well.

Strong writing supports may include sentence frames, explicit instruction in paragraph structure, graphic organizers, modeled writing, breaking assignments into steps, pre-writing time, and the use of assistive technology such as keyboarding or speech-to-text.

Written expression goals in the IEP should be specific and measurable, addressing areas such as sentence construction, organization, use of transition words, grammar accuracy, and spelling patterns.

What Layered Supports Look Like in an IEP

A robust ELA services plan involves several distinct components working together. It might include:

• Decoding instruction delivered multiple times per week using a structured, evidence-based program
• Progress monitoring routines for phonics and fluency
• Direct comprehension instruction that teaches strategies explicitly
• Writing intervention that focuses on both mechanics and organization

Each of these should have its own goals, methods, and progress data. Layered supports are coordinated and intentional, not pieced together or delivered only when time allows.

How Parents Can Tell If Supports Are Truly Layered

Families can ask the school several clarifying questions:

• Which specific reading components are being targeted?
• What program or curriculum is being used, and is it evidence-based?
• Are skills being taught in a sequence that builds systematically?
• How frequently is progress being monitored?
• Do writing goals connect back to foundational reading skills?
• Are interventions delivered consistently by trained staff?

Unclear or inconsistent answers may indicate that supports are not layered appropriately.

Final Thoughts: Layered Supports Create Real Growth

Students do not overcome literacy challenges by trying harder. They succeed when schools provide structured, targeted intervention that builds skills step by step. When decoding, fluency, comprehension, and written expression are supported together, students experience meaningful and measurable progress.

If you need help reviewing your child’s IEP or determining whether their current ELA supports cover all the necessary layers, Education Advocates of America is here to guide you.