BREAKING THE BARRIERS TO READING SUCCESS IN

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS

E bonee W illiams

The University o f Mississippi

For decades, minority students have been falling behind n o n -m inority

students, and schools have been striving to bridge this gap. It has, in
deed, been challenging for middle and high schools, especially when
striving to increase reading achievement: Since most middle and high
school teachers are non-English teachers, they lack reading instruction
preparation, thus, fall short when attempting to help struggling readers.
Unfortunately, if these schools continue to fall short, the students and
even our nation will be affected. Therefore, this article describes strat
egies that successful middle and high schools have implemented such
as Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) and trade books to break through
the tough reading barriers that once prevented student achievement.
Keywords: minority students, reading achievement, middle schools,
high schools

Introduction
In
to d a y s
predom inantly
m inority
m iddle and high schools, teachers face a
plethora o f challenges such as m anaging the
classroom , m otivating students, and differ
entiating instruction. H ow ever, since m ost
o f these teachers are only prepared to teach
non-E nglish subjects and lack preparation in
reading instruction, one o f the m ost difficult
challenges is helping students overcom e their
reading inability, a barrier that can hinder
academ ic achievem ent and affect students
future behaviors and outcom es. F or instance,
[sjtudents w ho enter high school w ith poor
literacy skills face odds against graduating
and going on to postsecondary education or
satisfying careers (Slavin, Cheung, Groff, &
Lake, 2008, p. 290). U nfortunately, a num ber
o f these students are unable to pass required
high school exit exam s due to their reading in
ability and as a result, cannot graduate, w hich
n ot only affects the students and schools but
also the entire nation. In fact, according to the

H B 2722 A dvisory C om m ittee (2008), L ow

er rates o f h igh school graduation lead to less
em ploym ent, higher rates o f incarceration, ill
health, substance abuse, and intergenerational
poverty (p. 10). T his causes a cost increase
fo r the n atio n s social services, h ealth care,
and crim inal ju stice (HB 2722 A dvisory
Com m ittee, 2008). M oreover, in order to pre
vent such detrim ental effects, m iddle and high
teachers m ust, indeed, help students becom e
successful readers by utilizing strategies that
have proven to increase reading achievem ent.

Overcoming the Reading Barrier with

Sustained Silent Reading
In order for students to becom e successful
readers, they m ust b e allotted several read
ing opportunities. The m ore students read,
the m ore efficient they becom e as readers
(Scholastic, 2005; Vacca & Vacca, 2005).
E v en though teachers m ay require students
to read for hom ew ork, schools should im ple
m ent reading tim e such as Sustained Silent

233

234 / Reading Improvement

Reading (SSR). This is a time when students
and teachers read a self-selected book for a
designated amount of time. (Vacca & Vacca,
2005). For example, at one San Diego high
school, a separate twenty-five minute period
is allocated each day for sustained silent read
ing... (Vacca & Vacca, 2005, p. 178).
A teacher may ask, How can my students
read independently during SSR if they are
poor readers, and how will I motivate them
to read? O f course, similar to the size of any
shoe, one book does not fit all students; there
fore, a key component to having successful
SSR is to ensure that students are provided
with appealing books that are varied in levels
and genres and are culturally relevant. How
ever, it is also important that all students se
lect appropriate leveled books. Some schools
are, in fact, utilizing SSR but fail to produce
positive results because students are allowed
to read any book. Although students should
be allowed to self-select a book, they must
choose one that fits their interest and reading
level. Because this is essential, schools must
utilize reading assessment data to determine
each students reading level and provide each
student with his or her level. Additionally,
schools must provide all teachers with the
levels to ensure that every student selects and
reads appropriate books.
Color coding all books is an easy approach
to aid students in selecting appropriate leveled
books and beneficial for monitoring SSR. For
example, if a teacher notices that an advanced
reader has a book with a red sticker (a low
level book), the teacher can guide the reader
to green sticker books (the high level books).
As a result of allowing students to self-se
lect books that are the appropriate fit, students
will become more motivated to read (Scho
lastic, 2005). Once students become more
motivated, they will begin reading more fre
quently, which will help increase their ability
to comprehend a variety of text.

Overcoming the Reading Barrier with

Trade Books
Do you recall your social studies or sci
ence teacher shouting, Take out your books
and turn to chapter five? If so, how did you
feel? Were you anxious to learn about the
Civil War or earths formation? Similar to
how you probably felt, many students, espe
cially struggling readers, dread reading from
textbooks because they consider the books
boring and difficult to read. Unfortunately, as
a result, these students become disengaged,
which can lead to student misbehavior (Cen
ter for Mental Health in Schools, 2008).
The use of trade books is a strategy that
can motivate students to read and prevent
such behavior. Trade books, rich in narrative
and informational content, can provide a valu
able complement to most textbooks (Vacca
& Vacca, 2005, p. 161). Unlike textbooks,
trade books vary in reading levels and if uti
lized effectively, can not only motivate stu
dents but can also increase students reading
comprehension and build fluency.
For instance, if a history teacher conducts
a lesson about the Civil War, instead of rely
ing solely on the textbook, he or she could
incorporate a variety of Civil War trade books
and allow students to self-select those books.
This affords students the opportunity to learn
about the Civil War in their own way, pro
ducing more motivated readers.
In addition, teachers must provide stu
dents with frequent opportunities to read trade
books in order to build students fluency and
reading comprehension (Scholastic, 2005).
As mentioned before, when utilizing books
in the classroom, teachers must ensure that
students are reading the appropriate leveled
book. If students are allowed to select any
book, this will not guarantee that students are
reading on their level, which can still cause
students to lack motivation, hindering read
ing success.

Breaking the Barriers to Reading Success in Middle and High Schools / 235
Overcoming the Reading Barrier at the
Middle School Level with SSR and Other
Strategies
Roosevelt Middle School, a sixth through
eighth grade school in California, faced ob
stacles when striving to increase reading
achievement among their predominantly
minority student population, but after imple
menting SSR and other strategies, Roosevelt
soon began to see positive results. Roosevelts
assistant principal believes that having a
school-wide reading focus was the key factor
in producing such results. Symonds (2004)
describes how Roosevelt focused on reading:
Roosevelt students [spent] a minimum
of two hours every day on reading.
Every teacher at Roosevelt, including
those in science and mathematics,
[taught] a period of reading every day.
In addition to both English and read
ing class, students also [had] literature
class every day, giving them 35 minutes
in the middle of the day for sustained
silent reading. Reading class [gave]
kids explicit instruction in how to best
acquire, analyze, and understand text.
In literature class, students generally
[spent] their time reading a book of their
choice, though some teachers [encour
aged] journal writing and a few [used]
the time to perform plays (p. 38).
O f course, there were obstacles when
developing the school-wide reading plan:
Initially, the principal found it challenging to
get teachers to buy into it, but after she pre
sented the reading data, indicating that ninety
percent of Roosevelts students were reading
below grade level, the teachers realized the
importance of implementing the plan (Sy
monds, 2004). The principal also needed to
rearrange the school and class schedules:
[The principal] had to alter the school
schedule radically, reducing teacher
preparatory periods from two a day

to one to allow time for Reading class

while creating a block of time in all stu
dents schedules at the same time every
day for literature. They also had to cut
back time given to electives, consoli
dating art, music, and computers into a
rotating block (Symonds, 2004, p. 39).
To prepare teachers for implementing
the plan, the districts reading specialists
and various organizations provided ongoing
Professional Development (PD) as well as
classroom-based peer coaching to all of Roo
sevelts teachers. Since the math and science
teachers were also responsible for implement
ing the plan, they were provided with special
training on differentiating reading instruction
based on students reading ability (Symonds,
2004). As a result of the school-wide reading
focus, Roosevelt saw improvement in stu
dents reading achievement: [T]wo to three
times as many students were at or above grade
level on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test,
ranging from 23 percent to 30 percent in sixth
through eighth grade (Symonds, 2004, p. 39).

Overcoming the Reading Barrier at the

High School Level with SSR, Trade Books,
and Other Strategies
Florin High School in Sacramento, Cali
fornia is another school that serves predom
inantly minority students, but despite chal
lenges, is increasing reading achievement and
bridging the achievement gap. For instance,
the gap between their African American and
nonminority students narrowed by eleven
percentage points, and narrowed by fourteen
percentage points between their Hispanic
and nonminority students (U. S. Department
of Education, 2005). Teachers credit this
success to the English department due to the
departments effort and success of motivat
ing students to read: These English teachers
provided opportunities for students to read a
variety of self-selected books in their English
classes, and the teachers and students shared

236 / Reading Improvement

and recommended books (U.S. Department
of Education, 2005). Similar to Roosevelt,
Florin [provided] time for sustained silent
reading where one day a week in their En
glish class, students [were] allowed to read
a book of their choice for one class period
(U.S. Department of Education, 2005, p. 34).
Florin not only had reading-focused English
classes, but they also emphasized reading in
other subjects and motivated students to read
by utilizing trade books (U.S. Department of
Education, 2005).
In addition, Florin fostered reading success
through creative ideas that required read
ing. For instance, the school implemented a
school-wide reading competition in which
students were required to read books; the stu
dent who read the most books was the winner.
Florin also developed a plan in which students
were required to read books, totaling one
thousand pages, every semester for a grade
(U.S. Department of Education, 2005). It was
not too difficult for students to find books,
though, because in addition to students and
English teachers sharing and recommending
books, the librarian conducted book talks in
classrooms to provide students with a synopsis
of appealing library books. As a result of the
strategies and ideas, Florin motivated students
to read and increased reading achievement
(U.S. Department of Education, 2005).

Conclusion
Furthermore, to increase reading achieve
ment among minority students, middle and
high schools must implement strategies and
train teachers for an effective implementa
tion. Since most schools are preparing to
implement Common Core State Standards
(CCSS), which require students to read a va
riety of text, it is especially essential to equip
teachers to help break the reading barrier. By
implementing the research-based strategies,
teachers will not only be equipped to increase
reading achievement, but they will also be

equipped to overcome other obstacles such

as motivating students and differentiating
instruction, which will help prevent misbe
havior. Moreover, if middle and high schools
implement strategies similar to those utilized
by Roosevelt Middle School and Florin High
School, such schools will be equipped to
prepare students for assessments such as the
CCSS, which will also prepare the students
and our nation for a brighter future.

Author Note
Ebonee Williams is a graduate student at
The University of Mississippi, where she is
pursuing her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruc
tion with an emphasis in Secondary English.
Correspondence concerning this article
should be addressed to Ebonee Williams, 121
Northside Drive, Durant, MS 39063.
Contact: enw31@yahoo.com

References
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HB 2722 Advisory Committee. (2008). A plan to close
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Olympia, WA: Office of Superintendent of Public
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Scholastic. (2005). Research on the use o f trade books to
improve reading achievement. Retrieved from http://
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Slavin, E., Cheung, A., Groff, C., & Lake, C. (2008).
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Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc..

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