The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto study was to examine if a significant difference exists between the number of rural K-3rd grade student referrals to Evidence Based Instruction, EBI, prior to and post leaders' implementation of reading legislation bill in the Mid-Western United States. There is an increased awareness of the importance of students being proficient readers by the end of third grade. Jean Piaget's Cognitive Constructivism theory and Response to Intervention model guided and supported this study. The population consisted of 1,956 kindergarten through third grade students in the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years. The research questions focused on determining if there was a statistically significant difference in the number of students for each grade level receiving evidence-based reading intervention prior and post leaders' implementation of reading legislation. A chi-square test was used to compare the observed data and the expected statistical difference to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in each grade level. Results for kindergarten were p = 0.058, and for second grade, they were p = 0.126, which indicated that there was not a statistically significant difference prior to and post implementation. Results for first grade were p = 0.037, and third grade were p =0.001, indicating there was a statistically significant difference prior to and post implementation. The findings of this study offer practical implications to elementary leadership and legislation leadership on the importance of supporting reading legislation bills in the primary grades. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]