REACH for Reading

At a time when young adolescents need to read complex texts in all content areas, many students continue to have difficulty with the reading process. Yet, although good models of elementary reading instruction are available, middle schools have few models or resources to meet the needs of their growing numbers of struggling readers. REACH for Reading has developed and is refining a model of evidence-based instruction to include (1) diagnostic reading assessment; (2) direct instruction of phonemic awareness, decoding, word recognition, word meanings, fluency, and reading comprehension; (3) contextual reading; and (4) coordinated teacher planning and instruction. In partnership with an urban middle school, the project is refining and evaluating a model and accompanying products to guide parents and language arts, reading, and special education teachers in building adolescent reading skills.