States have put an emphasis on reading intervention, but most don’t specify how to help students beyond grade 3, according to an article in Education Week. Older students may need help with vocabulary development or understanding how word parts convey meaning.
The amount of attention put on younger students is understandable. Students who can’t read by 3rd grade are more likely to struggle academically in the future, drop out of high school, and have poor adult outcomes.
In a poll administered by the EdWeek Research Center between Sept. 24 and Nov. 3 of nearly 700 educators, 58% said that a quarter or more of their middle and high school students struggle with basic reading.
The reasons are many: older students who weren’t taught how to read using evidence-based methods, pandemic-related damage, and declines in independent reading among youth.
“We know that literacy difficulties don’t end in 3rd grade,” says Emily Solari, an education professor at the University of Virginia and director of Virginia Literacy Partnerships. “In fact, they get much more complex to target as kids get older.”
That’s because in middle school gaining knowledge from text serves as the basis for all other learning. Lessons in all subjects use increasingly complex texts, and reading struggles can cause students to fall behind in math, science, and social studies as well.
Older students who struggle with reading comprehension need developmentally appropriate books that are engaging for their age. Middle schools with more structured schedules can find it difficult to find time for reading interventions. Compounding the challenge: middle school English/language arts teachers may lack training in foundational literacy skills, and teachers of other subjects may not understand how literacy factors into their classes.
“What type of professional development, training, or awareness do they need around students who may not be able to access the content?” asks Kymyona Burke, a senior policy fellow at ExcelinEd. “What if it’s not that a student hates math, it’s that they can’t read and interpret math content?”
ExcelinEd’s model state policy for advancing adolescent literacy calls for:
- regularly administered reading assessments;
- individual reading plans for students who haven’t mastered certain literacy concepts;
- training for both educators and administrators in content-specific literacy skills;
- reading specialists in all schools;
- tiered systems that provide more intense interventions for students with more extensive deficits; and
- incorporating concepts like phonological awareness, morphology, and reading comprehension into secondary teacher-preparation programs.
At least 40 states have passed “flagship” literacy laws to align teacher training, curricula, and student interventions with the science of reading, says Esther Quintero, a senior fellow at the Albert Shanker Institute, which tracks state reading legislation. But most of those laws target the bulk of their requirements and resources at students in 3rd grade and below.
“Older students have a whole different set of characteristics that would require a separate, more targeted approach,” Quintero says.
Virginia amended its literacy law in 2023, extending most of its provisions through 8th grade and adding the most comprehensive requirements for older readers of any state law to date.
Other states have passed or proposed legislation that is less comprehensive or more targeted in scope.
An Iowa law passed in 2024 requires personalized reading intervention plans for students in kindergarten through 6th grade who cannot read at grade level. A 2024 Indiana law requires the state’s department of education to develop a screener to identify students in 4th through 8th grade who need additional reading support. New Mexico requires ELA and special education teachers in grades 6-12 to take a 55-hour course on fundamental literacy concepts.
This year, Virginia began a screener for 4th through 8th grade students who score at the basic or below-basic level on a section of the state reading test or are flagged by a teacher for additional assessment. This helps schools identify specific areas for individualized student reading intervention plans required by the new state law.
Last year, the state’s board of education approved a list of intervention materials for students in grades 4-8 to help districts comply with a requirement that their curricula align with the science of reading. The guide features age-appropriate texts from a variety of sources, including newspaper articles, poems, and novel excerpts; and computer-based platforms with activities to help students practice concepts.
Virginia districts must also hire one reading specialist for every 550 students in kindergarten through grade 5 and one reading specialist for every 1,100 students in grades 6-8.
Schools place heavy emphasis on middle-grades teachers receiving training to comply with the law. For existing teachers, Virginia Literacy Partnerships helped develop training modules that target the specific needs associated with their various positions.
ELA teachers must complete an online course that takes 27-36 hours and explores issues like reading comprehension of complex texts, vocabulary development, and developmentally appropriate instructional strategies for middle grades students.
For math, science, and social studies teachers, the course takes 5-7 hours and focuses on more fundamental concepts and how they translate into their specialties.
Reading advocates are closely watching as Virginia implements its law, hoping it will influence other states’ efforts to extend reading support to older students.
Education Week
