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Once educators get beyond some common misconceptions, they can take practical steps to identify secondary students with literacy challenges and use technology to support them.

Here’s a sobering statistic: In 2019, 30% of 12th grade students were identified as reading below the basic level on the NAEP assessment. If you include those reading below proficiency, that percentage rises to a staggering 63%. Achievement for these lowest-level readers actually decreased from 2015, meaning that after twelve years of education, more than half of all students will go into the world with limited literacy skills.

Reading is the only skill that K-12 students need for six hours a day, every single day. All academic areas are impacted by reading: the ability to do word problems in math, identify information in social studies, and participate in discussions about novels in English class. But reading isn’t confined to school performance. As students get older, a driver’s license is often a necessity, but getting one can be a major challenge if they can’t read the manual or pass the test. Getting a summer or part-time job may be very difficult if reading or writing is involved. Areas of interest and competency, like sports, may be eliminated because of poor grades. There is often an emotional impact, too, because of shame and fear that others will discover their deficit.

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