Editor’s note: This essay is an entry in Fordham’s 2025 Wonkathon, which asked contributors to answer this question: “What needs to happen next—at the state, district, and school levels—for the science of reading revolution to fulfill its promise and ensure that far more children learn to read well?” Learn more.
The science of reading movement has begun to reshape early literacy instruction across North America. Classrooms that once depended on leveled readers and cueing strategies are now centered on explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, decoding, and fluency. It’s an amazing shift, and one that has the potential to change the trajectory of millions of young learners’ lives.
What about the students who are already beyond those early grades? What about the middle schooler who struggles to read even basic texts or the teen who decodes well but can’t make sense of what they read? For them, the revolution hasn’t arrived yet. If we truly believe that all children can learn to read, we must expand our vision of literacy reform to include older readers who were left behind by earlier systems.
The unfinished work of the science of reading
The science of reading movement has made incredible progress in shaping early instruction. States have passed legislation requiring evidence-based practices in early elementary classrooms, teacher training programs have been redesigned, and schools are investing in high-quality foundational skills curricula. These revolutionary changes should be celebrated because they’re essential, and they’re a long time coming.
Most of these initiatives stop at third grade, however. The message seems to be that the reading crisis can be solved entirely in the early years, but that’s not the reality. Many older students were never taught with explicit, systematic methods, or their instruction was interrupted by inconsistent programming and staffing changes. Others made progress but never truly reached automaticity or fluency, resulting in comprehension challenges.
By middle school, the consequences of early reading failure are compounded by years of frustration. Students who can’t read fluently are excluded from real, meaningful engagement with grade-level content, and their confidence dies. Without intervention, they often disengage from reading altogether, creating a vicious cycle that’s difficult to break free from.
If the goal of the science of reading revolution is for every child to read well, we must address this unfinished work: Supporting the many students who are already beyond the prevention stage and now require intervention.
At the state level: Expand policy and investment
The first step is for state-level literacy policies to broaden their scope. Most legislation and funding streams target early identification and K–3 intervention. These efforts are important, but they must extend through the end of high school. Reading development doesn’t stop in elementary school, and neither should literacy funding.
States can take three key actions:
- Include adolescent literacy in literacy laws and funding initiatives. Mandates should specify support for older grades, with funds allocated to intensive reading intervention and teacher training for those levels.
- Approve and fund evidence-based intervention programs. Many states maintain lists of approved early reading curricula. They could do the same for intervention programs with demonstrated results for older readers, programs that strengthen phonological processing, automaticity, and comprehension.
- Invest in specialized teacher preparation. Every teacher-preparation program should include coursework on adolescent literacy and intervention. Too many educators enter the profession prepared to teach reading but not to remediate it.
By recognizing literacy as a K–12 continuum, states can ensure that support doesn’t disappear the moment a student turns nine.
At the district level: Build pathways for intervention
Districts play a critical role in translating policy into practice. Too often, intervention systems stop after grade three or four, leaving schools on their own to support struggling older readers. The result is a patchwork of support, well-intentioned teachers trying to help without the right tools or training.
Districts can bridge that gap by:
- Establishing clear pathways for continued support. When students move from elementary to middle school, their literacy data should move with them. Districts can set up protocols to identify, track, and group students who need structured intervention beyond grade three.
- Aligning assessment tools across grade spans. Districts need consistent progress-monitoring systems that go beyond decoding. Screening and monitoring should include fluency, morphology, and comprehension so teachers know which skills need strengthening.
- Building capacity through specialized training. Districts should train interventionists and literacy leads to deliver structured, evidence-based programs during middle and high school schedules. When interventionists understand both the science and the adolescent learner, they can deliver instruction that is rigorous and responsive.
This kind of infrastructure allows older readers to receive high-impact, evidence-based instruction that restores their progress and confidence.
At the school level: Create time, culture, and confidence
At the school level, the challenge is practical. Older students often have full schedules, and pulling them from classes for reading intervention can be logistically difficult and socially awkward. However, without dedicated and protected instructional time, even the best programs can’t succeed.
Schools must treat reading intervention as essential, not optional. That may mean prioritizing literacy support over electives or offering small-group instruction during advisory periods or resource blocks.
Equally important is the culture around intervention. Struggling readers often carry years of shame or embarrassment. Schools can change that narrative by framing reading intervention as a growth opportunity. Evidence-based interventions can create reading progress quickly, which builds motivation, which in turn contributes to positive reading habits.
Finally, data transparency matters. When students can see their own progress, their engagement and self-efficacy grow. For a student who has spent years believing that reading just isn’t their thing, that shift can be transformative.
The next frontier of the reading revolution
The science of reading has focused on prevention to ensure that children learn to read from the start, but prevention alone won’t fulfill the movement’s promise. To make good on its commitment to equity, the next steps must include remediation for students who didn’t benefit from these reforms early enough.
Extending the science of reading to older students is an act of justice. Every student deserves the chance to read with confidence and to leave school equipped for the literacy demands of adulthood.
The reading revolution will not be complete until we stop defining success by how many children start reading well, and start measuring it by how many finish school as confident readers.
