Research exercise: Effective Instructional Strategies For Use with Upper-Grade Level Struggling Readers

This presentation will focus on struggling readers in upper level grades (9th through 12th). Most reading programs and research focus on literacy issues in elementary school. In many cases, reading instruction often ceases after eighth grade. After this point, teachers expect students to have a certain level of reading skill. Because of this, many students who struggle with reading will be mislabeled as having a learning disability.Unfortunately, recent studies have shown that a quarter of eighth-grade students perform below the "Basic" level of reading proficiency (Allington). Studies have also suggested that up to 70% of older readers are in need of remediation but do not receive it (Whithear). Because they lack reading skills, students cannot perform well in other classes, even in subjects like math and science where they may be capable of grasping the concept but cannot read the assignments or questions. Struggling readers cannot keep up with increasingly advanced language, and often drop out in high school and become adults without proficient reading skills.The focus for the Stander presentation will be on Chapter 2, the Review of the Literature for this research study. The review will focus on articles about struggling readers in urban and high-poverty schools. It will also focus on the most effective strategies teachers can employ to help students become proficient readers. Evidence based strategies that have been identified as effective will be examined. The impact of implementing these strategies in schools will be an outgrowth of the study. BibliograhyAllington, R.L. (2011). Reading intervention in the middle grades. Voices from the Middle, 19(2), 10-16.Whithear, J. (2011). A review of fluency research and practices for struggling readers in secondary school. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, 19(1), 18-28.