For decades a persistent belief has shaped U.S. education: students “learn to read” in K-3 and then “read to learn” in older grades. But many students are still building foundational literacy well past third grade. According to the 2024 NAEP Reading scores, approximately 70% of fourth and eighth-grade students in the United States do not meet national standards for reading proficiency.
This is about more than test scores. When students lack strong literacy skills, they face barriers to learning across subjects and have fewer opportunities after graduation. To improve outcomes, education leaders need to replace inaccurate assumptions with evidence-based literacy assessment and intervention, especially for older students.
To support district and school leaders working on adolescent literacy, Reading Reimagined, an AERDF R&D program, released a new whitepaper outlining an evidence-backed approach to literacy assessment for older students and targeted intervention. The paper synthesizes current research on what contributes to reading difficulties in upper elementary, middle, and high school and explains why many existing assessment approaches fail to surface the skills students most need to strengthen.
One key challenge: older students are often assessed primarily on reading comprehension, not on the underlying skills that enable comprehension. And when older readers’ underlying skills are assessed, it is typically with tests that are designed to measure the early foundational literacy skills that are associated with early elementary grades, rather than the advanced skills like multisyllabic decoding and morphology that more sophisticated texts require. Without assessment data that pinpoints specific reading needs, educators and district teams may struggle to select timely, effective reading interventions for older students, or they may apply supports that do not match the root barriers.
The whitepaper highlights a promising tool: the Rapid Online Assessment of Reading (ROAR), created by Dr. Jason Yeatman from Stanford University. ROAR can help identify strengths and needs across key dimensions of literacy, including decoding, phonological awareness, reading fluency, morphology, and comprehension. Designed for efficient implementation, ROAR can be administered online in a silent, group setting without teacher administration. In about 30 minutes, it can provide information that helps teams understand student reading profiles and better align instruction and intervention.
Explore five big ideas for strengthening literacy outcomes across grade levels, along with practical implementation steps district leaders can use to make assessment and intervention more actionable. If you’re planning next steps for adolescent literacy support, screening, or intervention decision-making, this resource is built to help. Read the whitepaper.
