This study explored the impact of strategy instruction for reading comprehension on ninth-grade English students identified as less-than-proficient readers and are therefore at-risk of failing the subject for the year. Subjects of the study were 34 English 9 Honors students during the 2020-2021 school year, separated into an at-risk cohort and a cohort not at risk based on Reading Inventory assessment (RI) scores. The study examines how strategy instruction for reading comprehension impacted the following: RI scores for both cohorts between September 2020 and January 2021; formative reading comprehension scores over time; and the rate of students in the at-risk cohort in danger of failing English 9 by mid-January 2021. From September 2020 to January 2021, the researcher modeled and implemented the explicit reading comprehension strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing, after which students took ten-question reading comprehension quizzes with explicit, implicit, and background questions (Alfassi, 2004; Cohen, 1985; Hong-Nam et al., 2014). Students re-took the RI assessment at the end of the study in January 2021. This study found that RI scores increased more so for the students in the at-risk cohort than for students not at risk. While there was no increase in formative scores over time, data suggested that all students needed support with implicit and background test questions, particularly those in the at-risk cohort. No students in either cohort were in danger of failing by January 2021. This study emphasized the practice of both proactively identifying students' needs upon entering a course and relying heavily on day-to-day formative data to drive specific and impactful instruction for all students. [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://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]