Kindergarten through second grade is the optimal grade range for Ignite Reading where impact can be measured through foundational skills and curriculum assessments. We recommend that school partners use data from these assessments to guide student selection. While the program supports multiple early grade levels, Ignite Reading’s best use case is providing a just-in-time intervention for first-grade students.

In grades 3-5 it’s recommended that universal screeners like DIBELS be used to identify students for placement. Performance that is below or well below benchmark on comprehension assessments may also be an indicator for a great candidate for Ignite Reading, as disfluency due to decoding gaps is often underpinning poor comprehension.

Ignite Reading tutoring sessions occur at the same time Monday through Friday and are 15 minutes daily. Each minute is critical instructional time. When choosing session times for your school, remember that all sessions start at the 15-minute mark (:00, :15, :30, :45).

Hold Ignite Reading session time sacred and plan upcoming events that may impact attendance, such as assemblies, field trips, celebrations, or state testing, at times that do not conflict with Ignite Reading.

Allocate transition time to ensure there is an allowance for transitioning both before and after sessions. This is especially true if the program time is adjacent to lunch, recess, or specials.

Avoid early morning times when bus schedules or student tardies will impact attendance.

Schedule Ignite Reading during an existing reading block or Tier 2/3 support.

Avoid times that may be impacted by adult supervision, such as bus duty, etc.

Avoid back-to-back sessions if students share devices, and plan for continuity during testing windows.

Avoid scheduling sessions during morning announcements, as they are a distraction that can cut into multiple minutes of your 15-minute Ignite Reading session.

School Champions must review session times with teachers and school staff before finalizing.

Ensure session times allow for students to attend the full 15 minutes of instructional time every day, Monday through Friday (including minimum or early release days).

Out of the Classroom Implementation

During the first year of Ignite Reading implementation, sessions should take place outside of the classroom in a designated Ignite Reading space with a proctor. The session space should be quiet, supervised, and prepped for daily use. This approach minimizes disruptions to Tier 1 instruction and allows the proctor to establish consistent routines and manage students effectively.

Having students transition out of the classroom best sets the program up for success as:

• Library or Media Center
• Computer Lab
• Intervention space
• Cafeteria / Gymnasium

While Ignite Reading strongly recommends that first-year implementations occur outside the classroom to maintain instructional quality and minimize disruptions, we recognize that this may not always be feasible. In such cases, there are important requirements and considerations to ensure a successful in-classroom implementation.

Key Requirements:

The teacher must actively monitor Ignite Reading sessions and follow best practices as outlined in the Implementation Playbook. Since students may need support from teachers, it is recommended that they not conduct small group instruction during Ignite Reading time unless they have strong classroom management and systems in place.

Other students should engage in independent activities that require little to no direct teacher involvement.

If the teacher must lead instruction during this time, we recommend having an additional adult proctor support students using Ignite Reading.

The teacher should be experienced with strong solid technology skills and excellent classroom management abilities.

Students should be ready to sign in to their Ignite
Reading session ~3 minutes before the start of
the session with technology already set up when
possible. Specifically:

• Chromebooks/devices are open
• Headphones are plugged in
• Supplies such as whiteboards and markers
or paper and pencils are placed in bins within
arm’s reach of students’ stations
• Clever, Classlink (or other SSO) badges are
next to devices or already scanned to further
ease student login

Student Device Best Practices

Students should use devices less than 5 years old if they have daily usage. While Chromebooks are most often used, laptops, desktops, iOS and Android devices are all supported - including touchscreens.

District IT leaders should ensure there is adequate bandwidth to support the connection for all Ignite Reading sessions to run concurrently.

Headphone Best Practices

Foundational skills work focuses heavily upon sounds in spoken words and correct pronunciation of phonemes. As such, students must have stereo quality, noise-reducing headphones with microphones. If you are interested in purchasing Ignite Reading headphones, you may place your order here. Ignite Reading recommends students use headphones that are no more than 1 year old. Headphones should be replaced within one week if lost or damaged, as they’re a crucial component of the program.