WGU C730: Secondary Reading Instruction and Interventions

What C730 is and why it matters

WGU C730, Secondary Reading Instruction and Interventions, is a School of Education course for future and practicing middle school and high school teachers. Its focus is not on teaching children to decode words for the first time, but on the very real problem you will meet in secondary classrooms: capable teenagers who still struggle to comprehend, analyze, and retain what they read across subjects like science, history, and math. The course centers on the Response to Intervention (RTI) model and on concrete strategies for building reading comprehension, vocabulary, and reasoning within the academic disciplines you teach.

Direct answer: C730 is passed by completing a performance assessment, not a multiple-choice test. Learn the RTI framework well enough to explain it in your own words, then write clear, evidence-based submissions that name a specific research-supported strategy, tie it directly to a struggling reader's needs, and justify why it helps. Follow the task rubric line by line, and you give yourself a strong chance of passing on your first submission.

Most students who take this course are enrolled in a secondary teaching program, and it typically sits after foundational instruction and assessment coursework. It matters because disciplinary literacy is a genuine part of secondary teaching: whether or not "reading" is in your job title, your students have to read to learn, and the strategies here carry straight into your classroom.

What the assessment covers

C730 is evaluated through a performance assessment made up of tasks you write and submit for evaluation. Based on publicly available descriptions of the course tasks, the material you should be ready to apply includes:

• The Response to Intervention (RTI) model — its tiered structure, its purpose in identifying and supporting struggling readers, and how data drives movement between tiers.
• Vocabulary development — research-supported strategies for teaching academic and content-area vocabulary to secondary students.
• Reading comprehension strategies — scaffolding techniques that help students make meaning from complex text.
• Text structures and genres — recognizing how informational and disciplinary texts are organized so students can navigate them.
• Logical reasoning in the disciplines — connecting reading to the thinking demanded by specific subject areas.
• Applying strategies to student profiles — reading a description of a specific learner and selecting and justifying an intervention matched to that learner's needs.

In practice this means one task tends to ask you to explain the RTI process and design vocabulary support, and another asks you to choose targeted comprehension strategies for described students. Always treat the current task instructions and rubric in your course as the final authority, since wording is periodically updated.

How hard it is and how long it takes

Many students describe C730 as moderate: not conceptually overwhelming, but a course that rewards careful, structured writing. The challenge is rarely the reading theory itself — it is meeting every element of the rubric precisely and backing your choices with reasoning rather than opinion. If you write clearly and follow directions closely, it is very manageable; if you skim the rubric, evaluators will return the task for the parts you missed.

Because it is a performance assessment, your pace depends on your writing speed and your comfort with the RTI framework. Many students report finishing in a few weeks of steady work, and some move faster if they already teach or have background in special education or literacy. Rather than fixating on someone else's timeline, block consistent writing sessions and aim to submit a complete, rubric-aligned draft rather than a rushed one.

How to prepare: a task-focused plan

This course does not reward passive rereading. It rewards being able to explain and apply. Build your study around producing, not just consuming.

• Learn RTI by retrieval, not recognition. Close your materials and write out the tiers of RTI, what happens at each tier, and how progress monitoring decides next steps. If you can teach it aloud to an imaginary colleague, you can write it on the task.
• Build a personal strategy bank. For vocabulary, comprehension, and text structure, keep a short list of named, research-supported strategies with a one-sentence note on when and why to use each. Task 2-style work asks you to match a strategy to a learner, so having a ready menu makes writing far faster.
• Practice with the student profiles. When a task provides described learners, treat it like a case study: identify the specific reading barrier, name a strategy that targets that barrier, and explain the causal link. That "barrier → strategy → why it works" chain is the backbone of a passing response.
• Space your work. Draft a section, step away, and return to revise with fresh eyes a day later. Spacing catches vague justifications and missing rubric points better than one long cram session.
• Use the rubric as a checklist. Before submitting, map each rubric row to a specific paragraph in your task. If you cannot point to where you addressed a requirement, it is not there yet.
• Lean on your course instructor and cohort resources. Course instructors can tell you what evaluators look for, which is far more reliable than secondhand tips.

Common mistakes students make in C730

• Writing in generalities. Saying a strategy "helps students read better" is not enough. Evaluators want the specific mechanism: what the strategy does and why it addresses this learner's barrier.
• Describing RTI vaguely. A common return reason is explaining RTI only in loose terms rather than clearly walking through its tiered, data-driven structure.
• Ignoring the "secondary" in the title. Strategies aimed at early elementary decoding miss the point. Keep your interventions appropriate for middle and high school readers and content-area texts.
• Not matching the strategy to the profile. When a student profile is provided, a generic strategy that ignores the described needs will not satisfy the rubric.
• Skipping justification and citations. Claims need support. Ground your choices in the course's research base rather than personal preference.
• Submitting before self-checking against every rubric row. Most returns are for a missing sub-point, not a wrong idea.

C730 Readiness Checklist

• Can you explain the RTI process, its tiers, and how data moves a student between them, without looking at your notes?
• Can you name at least three research-supported vocabulary strategies for secondary students and say when to use each?
• Can you list several comprehension and text-structure strategies appropriate for content-area reading?
• Can you read a student profile, identify the specific reading barrier, and choose a targeted intervention?
• Can you write a clear "barrier → strategy → why it works" justification for each choice?
• Have you mapped every rubric requirement to a specific section of your draft?
• Can you support your strategy choices with the course's research base rather than opinion?
• Have you proofread for clarity and confirmed your submission is your own original writing?

FAQ

Is C730 an OA or a PA?

C730 is assessed by a performance assessment. You complete written tasks — commonly one focused on the RTI process and vocabulary, and one applying comprehension strategies to described students — that are submitted and evaluated against a rubric. There is no multiple-choice objective assessment for this course.

Is WGU C730 hard?

Many students consider it moderate. The reading theory is approachable; the real work is writing precise, rubric-aligned responses and justifying your strategy choices with reasoning and support. Follow the instructions closely and it is very passable.

How long does C730 take?

It varies with your writing pace and background. Many students report completing it in a few weeks of steady effort, and those with teaching or literacy experience often move faster. Focus on submitting a complete, well-supported draft rather than racing a fixed clock.

Why do I see this course listed as D163 or LHM1?

WGU periodically revises course codes, and public listings show this same course, Secondary Reading Instruction and Interventions, appearing under codes such as D163 and the legacy LHM1. The subject matter is closely related. Always follow the exact task and rubric shown inside your own course, since that is what evaluators use.

What is RTI and why does it matter so much here?

Response to Intervention is a tiered, data-driven framework for identifying struggling readers and matching them with increasingly targeted support. It is central to this course because your tasks ask you to explain it and to design interventions that fit within it, so a solid grasp of RTI underpins most of what you write.

What is the best way to study for C730?

Study actively: rehearse explaining RTI in your own words, build a bank of named strategies with reasons to use each, and practice matching strategies to sample student needs. Then draft against the rubric and self-check every requirement before you submit.

Keep going

If you are working through the School of Education sequence, you may find these related guides useful: D184 Standards-Based Assessment pairs naturally with the data and progress-monitoring ideas in RTI, and D090 The School as a Community of Care rounds out the student-support side of teaching. You can browse the full School of Education hub or the complete library of WGU course guides to plan your term. For official course and enrollment details, always check wgu.edu.