How Schools Can Help Older Students Struggling With Reading

Tinaya York, a literacy consultant and founder of Literacy for Life, has worked with students of all ages in a number of different roles in education, including teacher, principal, and reading specialist. Through that work, she’s seen kids of all ages struggling to read.

Jade Wexler, a professor of special education at the University of Maryland, also sees the growing number of older students struggling to read—NAEP scores have shown continued declines in reading, with 70 percent of 8th graders reading below proficient level as of 2024.

Here, York and Wexler share some of the trends they’re seeing amongst struggling older readers, and how they think schools can approach this issue – with both school-wide strategies, and individual interventions.