Rural, middle schools in North Carolina have struggled with the Students with Disabilities subgroup in making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in reading since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was passed. Consequences could be dire for a school and principal with a subgroup of these children who were unable to show growth each year toward total…

Although a growing body of research points to the critical need to foster reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills for students in order to ensure their success in college, careers, and life, these efforts have tended to focus more on developing literacy skills in the early years, often ignoring secondary students. The outcome has…

Rigorous research provides information that will allow other schools and districts to select interventions that have a scientifically based track record of effectiveness. All Striving Reader grants include the mandate to evaluate literacy intervention(s) targeted to adolescents who are reading significantly below grade level. Although all studies…