“Many students no longer arrive at college—even at highly selective, elite colleges—prepared to read books.” - Rose Horowitch​

“For these students, the inability to read well throws up a roadblock in front of every school subject: the instructions for a science experiment. The words in a math problem. The title of a song in music. As they get older, a menu, job application, street names or text message might as well be in a foreign language.” - Diane Benson Harrington​

Your work matters.

**Note: This is a link-heavy newsletter. I apologize in advance if a link is broken or goes to the wrong page!

Lately, it seems as though my feed is focused on adolescent literacy and older readers. I’m noticing this in my daily Science of Reading Google Alert and my social media feeds. It’s possible that since The Reading League released news of launching the Adolescent Literacy page on The Compass that this is a case of Baader-Meinhof phenomenon or the algorithm noticing my preferences, but I think the evidence below shows otherwise.

The links below were published or shared in the month of November 2024 (not an exhaustive list):

• AERDF released a report that further confirms the importance of the decoding threshold. (Read the full report here)
  • These findings are also covered in this article from 74 Million and this article from K12 Dive
• ​Vox covered the decline in reading for pleasure
• Sarah Schwartz with Education Week highlights what teachers say they need most to support struggling teen readers​
• Melissa & Lori Love Literacy posted on Instagram about Adolescent Literacy resources
• Pam Kastner created a Padlet of PATTAN’s Secondary Literacy Resources​
• ​The Project for Adolescent Literacy hosted a webinar and shared findings from their Educator Survey
• AIM hosted a webinar focused on Secondary Literacy.
• ​UNESCO released data that shows only 6 in 10 children reach minimum proficiency in reading by the end of primary school

Regardless, it’s clear that there is a current shift in trending topics amidst the science of reading movement; we are spending more time discussing the needs of our older readers - both those that are striving readers and those that are proficient.

The AERDF study and media coverage emphasizes the need for supporting striving older readers with decoding and fluency skills; many upper elementary, middle school and high school students need support with accessing grade level texts because of this. The challenge is that many teachers of older students aren’t equipped with this knowledge or instructional experience. Instead, most secondary teachers learn to teach literature, something noted on this podcast. Essentially, that’s how this “should” go - students become proficient decoders in early grades and their literacy journey continues with deeper comprehension analysis and studies of literature.

How did we get here? With the sweeping balanced literacy (and previously whole language) approaches that de-emphasized the importance of explicit foundational skill instruction over the past 25+ years we can begin to see that early literacy instruction hasn’t been preparing students for complex reading in upper grades. We are serving children who missed the critical time to develop early literacy while still expecting them to grapple with grade level texts and content that only increases in complexity with each grade. The leveled/predictable texts they thrived on in kindergarten did not prepare them for this. In fact, as far back as 30 years, NAEP Reading scores have remained stagnant; this is not a new problem folks, we are simply paying closer attention and looking for evidence-based answers.

It is imperative that we support the older readers who sit in front of us now - it can be hard to wait knowing that students are suffering under our watch. But I want to encourage us to remember that if we have gaps in our early literacy instruction, we are only perpetuating this issue and will always be intervening with our older readers. We cannot ignore the impact of poor literacy instruction in our early grades - the AERDF study “confirms that students in grades 3-12 whose decoding skills weren't sufficient to decode grade-level text had slower progress in key reading skills like vocabulary, sentence processing, and reading comprehension.” Juel (1988) found that the probability that a child would remain a poor reader at the end of fourth grade, if the child was a poor reader at the end of first grade, was .88. (Read more here)

Leadership Moves:

We need a plan that considers our older readers’ needs and prepares our early readers NOW - a both/and plan.

• In early grades, ensure that we have strong core foundational skill instruction and the resources to support early intervention for students, especially in K-1. This does not mean you’ll provide whole group core instruction for foundational skills, rather you might flood the grade level to provide differentiated skill instruction (see Dr. Stollar’s blog and the Walk to Read model). Be sure to bolster language comprehension during core instruction, reading aloud complex texts and engaging students in discussion. (See Dr. Ness’s 3-step planning protocol)
• Equip ALL teachers with knowledge, supporting secondary teachers with understanding the crucial elements of reading instruction beyond “teaching literature.” In addition, consider how content area teachers can support literacy, incorporating opportunities for fluency, vocabulary, text structure and disciplinary literacy instruction with texts used in their courses.
• In upper grades, middle school and high school, TRL’S Compass recommends: “intervention grounded in the science of reading must be implemented as a comprehensive, school-wide effort across all tiers of instruction” Reference the Intervention Evaluation Guidelines to support decision-making or review intervention resources.
• Leaders may need to radically rethink their schedules and human resources to support the readers in their buildings to provide strategic interventions for students. One example is the Humanities Accelerator Course from Achieve the Core.
• Remember, interventions happen IN ADDITION TO strong core instruction. “You cannot intervene your way out of a tier 1 problem.” However, for our striving older readers we can put supports in place during core instruction that allows them access to grade level texts. Teachers may consider reading texts aloud and using fluency approaches (follow @kyairb on Twitter for videos of this in action with middle school students).

What does this mean for me?

If you’re a leader of early literacy, you can change the course of a reader’s life by providing evidence-based literacy instruction and intervening EARLY (before the end of grade one if possible). If you’re serving older students, it’s not too late. With some intentional work we can provide strategic instruction and support for striving older readers. Invest in professional development for all teachers and make this an all-hands on deck situation. We can ALL be teachers of literacy when equipped with the knowledge to do so.

Related Resources

1. ​IES Practice Guide - Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Policies​
2. ​Teaching Adolescents to Read: It’s Not Too Late by Lousia Moats
3. ​Storyshares is a publisher of decodable chapter books for older striving readers. Thanks to a generous donor, they are currently giving away 100 free decodable book sets to schools and educators in need. Recipients will get to choose between a set of upper elementary, middle school, or high school decodable texts, and they will send the books completely free of charge. Use this link to request your free set (supplies are limited)!

**Disclosure: I am a 1099 employee for Reading Reimagined, a part of AERDF.

Revolution Resources

This guide is a companion to the anchor text, The Knowledge Gap. Participants can engage with the course individually or as a group. Texts sets for each chapter are provided. A workbook is provided including journal prompts to encourage reflection. Click on the picture below to check it out. Use the coupon code "NEWSLETTER" to access the course for free!

In this workshop series, you’ll be the first to experience our assessment tool - UNPACKED. We are going deeper into each category and indicator on the assessment tool. This is a four-part workshop series. Click on the button below to view the YouTube playlist! Watch the Fall Workshop Series Recordings

​​Coaching System Assessment Download the PDF below ​LRC Coaching System Assessment PDF - Final.pdf​ Watch the February workshop about this resource! ​

Literacy System Assessment Download the PDF below ​LRC Literacy System Assessment PDF - Final.pdf​ Watch the webinar about this resource below! ​

Listen, Linda a new Spotify playlist I've collected all of my podcast guest appearances in one place. Make sure to follow along for new episodes as they come out! Listen here

Where have we been?

I am grateful to NCCAT for the invitation to the Literacy Leaders Conference 2024. Thank you to TRL-NC member Gin Hodge for being such a gracious host! I shared about The Reading League North Carolina mission and story. Being among other literacy leaders and doing some deep thinking about our work is one of my favorite things to do! The speakers at this event pushed our thinking and prepared us with actionable steps to bring back to our districts and schools. Thank you to the leaders in attendance for helping me relive my event MC days. “When I say The Reading, you say League! THE READING - LEAGUE! THE READING - LEAGUE!”

Sharing the Work of Others

Meet Courtney Tate ​https://courtneystate.com/​ Helping instructional coaches build trust, deliver results, and grow as leaders. Coaching isn’t about fixing—it’s about growth. Let’s work together to align your strategies and take your coaching to the next level. Book a FREE 15-minute consultation to learn how we can support your journey! Special Offer for Newsletter Subscribers: 3 sessions for $450 6 sessions for $600 Scan the QR code on the flyer or message Courtney today to get started!​

Let's Work Together

It's hard to believe, but it's time to start thinking about summer PD and the 2025-2026 school year! (Yes, I'm a planner!) I welcome discussions about how I can serve you and your school or district with instructional coaching or literacy. Click here to sync our calendars for a conversation.

Where can we connect? Bold font shows events at which I'm presenting. 7/9 - 7/10 - Get Engaged Coaching Con | Learn more here​ 10/8 - 10/10 The Reading League 9th Annual Conference | Learn more here​ ​ Check out my calendar