Few books are tailored for older struggling readers: ‘It’s an absolute wasteland’

EdWeek features John Strong and Blythe Anderson in an article about free resources for older students who struggle with reading, particularly with multisyllabic academic words needed for middle and high school coursework. Their 2024 study found that 4th and 5th graders’ decoding ability predicted their multisyllabic word reading success, but so did their vocabulary and knowledge of morphology, or the meaning of different word parts like prefixes and suffixes. This research suggests that word-level instruction for older students “should probably combine decoding instruction with meaning instruction,” said Strong, who conducted the study along with Anderson. “If they’re doing phonics, they just think it’s baby work,” Strong said.