What At-Risk Readers Need
"Two of every three students in U.S. schools have reading proficiencies below the level needed to adequately do grade-level work," cites Richard Allington in "What At-Risk Readers Need," part of the Best of EL 2010–11.
If we began screening for letter name knowledge in kindergarten, we could know on the second day of kindergarten who is at risk of becoming a struggling reader, and begin interventions, he says.
However, he adds, most U.S. schools have no plan to provide the sorts of expert, additional instruction that at-risk kindergartners need. "This means that most schools deliberately create a pool of students who will become struggling readers," Allington concludes.
To break this status quo, Allington suggests shifting early reading interventions from what doesn't work: