The Northwest Evaluation Association’s (NWEA) recent brief, “Policy recommendations for addressing the middle school reading crisis,” provides insights on how state and local educational agency leaders can improve literacy outcomes.
Just 30 percent of eighth graders performed at or above proficient in reading on the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress and research from NWEA echoes this trend, finding that although the pandemic didn’t create the crisis, it did exacerbate it.
“Middle school students continue to lag their pre-pandemic peers and may need up to a full academic year of additional instruction to regain ground,” according to the brief. “For at least the last decade, middle and high school teachers expressed their concerns as students struggled to read full books, and more recently, college faculty shared how incoming college students are not prepared for the literacy demands of higher education.”
Although much attention is paid to the early learning years when foundational literacy skills are developed, support is needed beyond that, as “many students leave fifth grade still struggling to read,” the brief states.
In middle school, most students have separate teachers for each subject and aspects of literacy are limited to certain classes. Additionally, the focus often transitions to English language arts instead of instruction on reading, which many still need. Yet, they must read and write in classes on increasingly complex topics. For some student groups, like multilingual learners, assignments can be even more difficult without robust reading support.
“Policymakers, along with district leaders, must prioritize a systems-level approach to literacy that supports the needs of our youngest students while not missing the unique literacy needs of our middle and high school students,” the brief states.
The brief outlines four components that can be considered to boost literacy achievement for all students, but especially those in middle school.
Those components include:
- Having high-quality and grade-appropriate assessments that give specific data on middle schoolers’ literacy needs
- Support for flexible scheduling and policies that promote literacy throughout the school day and effectively use instructional time
- Understanding and supporting the unique literacy needs of middle schoolers across subjects and disciplines
- Building relationships with external partners who have shared goals involving literacy to stretch support and reinforce literacy development beyond school hours and resources
Read about corresponding recommendations and other considerations, like the importance of addressing chronic absenteeism and understanding what motivates students, in the brief.
