Jade Wexler, professor of special education, is featured in a Los Angeles Times article discussing how some schools are closing nationwide literacy gaps by integrating reading instruction into every classroom. The article highlights the urgency of addressing literacy challenges, with the 2022 National Assessment of Education Progress revealing that nearly 70% of eighth-graders scored below “proficient,” including 30% below “basic.”
While research shows that one-on-one interventions can be helpful, Wexler suggests that embedding reading instruction into middle and high school content-area classes, "where [students] spend a majority of their day," may have a greater impact. She is currently researching ways to develop a schoolwide literacy model at the secondary level. As the article notes, several states are exploring this approach to better prepare students for college-level reading.
