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For older students who are still learning to read, every moment of instructional time is precious. Often, schools respond by segmenting reading intervention and core curriculum into separate blocks, treating foundational skill-building as entirely distinct from grade-level content. While this might seem efficient, it misses a major opportunity to accelerate learning and foster meaningful, lasting progress for striving readers.

In fact, the science and art of reading are two sides of the same coin, both essential for real student growth.‍

At Phoenix Academy in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a charter high school with a high percentage of multilingual learners, the high school student literacy gap isn’t hypothetical. It’s real, pressing, and mission-critical.

Whether you’re a literacy leader, educator, or passionate advocate for equitable reading instruction, this curated list of our top recommended books highlights some of the most influential research and practical strategies shaping literacy today.

At the core of the sean nós tradition is communication and narrative expression—songs are not simply performed, but spoken from the heart, as living stories passed from one voice to the next.

Executive functioning is the mental process that helps us plan, focus, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. When a student struggles with executive functioning, it can significantly impact many areas of life—including reading.

We do not need to give up on an entire generation of readers because we feel it is ‘too late,’ or because we’re not quite sure where to begin.

Striving readers in middle and high school often fall through the cracks—not because they can't learn, but because they need the right kind of support. LIFT, Storyshares’ Literacy Intervention for Teens and Pre-teesn, is here to bridge that gap. If you're considering LIFT for your school or classroom, this FAQ will address common questions.

Get to know LIFT (Literacy Intervention for Teens) by Storyshares with a Q&A with Director of Education, Shira Engel.