Children who have experienced developmental, social, or economic risks may benefit more from attending high-quality preschool intervention programs than their more advantaged peers; thus, programs that have delivered high-quality experiences may have served as a protective factor for these children to help reduce the achievement gap that has existed at school entry. The overarching purpose of this dissertation was to examine best practice in providing systemic early literacy interventions as a protective factor against school failure for young at-risk children. The three studies comprising this dissertation included analyses of systemic early literacy interventions for young children at risk of reading and school failure due to (a) developmental delays, (b) low socioeconomic status, or (c) English language learner status. Consistent with previous literature, the researcher found that children participating in a responsive early literacy intervention program were better prepared for kindergarten than were non-participating peers. Responsive early literacy interventions were defined as purposeful instruction designed to meet the educational needs of children by implementing an embedded-explicit or balanced approach to teaching. Attendance in high-quality early education programs - especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds - was linked to lasting effects on indicators related to student achievement.