This article discusses a three-tiered, differentiated curriculum in a response to intervention (RTI) framework that has successfully raised achievement at all levels, but is particularly successful with ninth-grade students. Walla Walla (Washington) School District implemented the three-tiered intervention program as a series of differentiated instructional programs or pathways that focus on early intervention and mirror the philosophy and features of the RTI model. In an RTI framework, Tier I includes the core program of evidence-based curriculum and instruction. In Tier II, students receive strategic interventions, such as supplemental instruction in small groups. Tier III includes more intensive interventions to accelerate students' rate of learning. Started five years ago as a pilot project funded by the state, Walla Walla's tiered instruction program has made significant strides. By 2007, special education referrals had dropped by 13.6%, the number of students enrolled in Tier I classes rose by 19.5%, and the district saw gains in elementary and secondary students passing the reading and writing portions of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) test. The district concluded that tiered early and intensive literacy interventions resulted in 79.5% of all 4th graders, 63.8% of all 7th graders, and 78.9% of all 10th graders passing the WASL.