In this report, we outline how intent statements can be used to identify high-frequency reading needs for a cohort of learners whose performance has been measured by a complex-adaptive reading assessment. Working from the assumption that intent statements, associated with incorrect item responses, represent a random sample of learner needs beyond their current level of knowledge and skill, we analysed the composite set of intent statements for incorrect items for a cohort of 39 learners. We outline the sub-components associated with the top-4 intent statements, followed by cross-tabulations to show the step level at which learning activities could be pitched to ensure that the distance between current and undeveloped skills and knowledge was not too great. Our approach, aligned with Vygotsky’s (1978) notion of the zone of proximal development, derives from the complex-adaptive test (CAT) functionality associated with the online version of the Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Tool (LNAT) in use in the tertiary sector in New Zealand.