Impactful Instruction for Adolescent Learners

As an educator, I have had the privilege of collaborating with secondary teachers both in my own school district and across the country. These dedicated professionals love their content and care deeply about their students. Yet a troubling trend has emerged: Too many students are unable to complete assignments and appear unmotivated.

The reality for many middle and high school teachers is that, while they are trained in literature or other content areas, they often have not received training in literacy. When faced with classrooms full of diverse learners who struggle to access grade-level content and are disengaged, teachers can feel uncertain about how to respond. Addressing this gap is critical, especially given the literacy crisis we face.

According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress NAEP, only 31 percent of fourth grade students and 30 percent of eighth grade students scored at or above the proficient level. These numbers make it clear: Many students in our classrooms are struggling to meet grade-level expectations. So, what can teachers do when they lack literacy training and the evidence-based assessments needed to guide instruction?

Often, teachers turn to their standards for guidance. Created by the National Governors Association in 2010, the Common Core State Standards aim to set unified, well-defined learning targets in English Language Arts, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening, as well as math and literacy across history, social studies, science, and technical subjects. While state leaders have modified these standards, they remain the guiding framework for what students should achieve at each grade level. They are research-based and aligned to college and career readiness.

When teachers plan their school year, their standards and curriculum serve as their road map. However, if a student cannot meet a grade-level standard due to unfinished learning, teachers often have little guidance or training in literacy to address the gap.

Knowing many middle and secondary students lack the prerequisite skills to master grade-level content, and teachers are still expected to teach their standards, what can a teacher do? How can they plan effective instruction that meets the needs of all students and helps them succeed? The answer begins with understanding how a teacher’s beliefs about struggling students shape their instruction.

From Assumptions to Understanding

What educators need to understand first is that their core beliefs directly influence how they teach. If a teacher believes a low-performing student cannot learn the content, she may lower expectations for that student, which in turn affects her instructional decisions. With lower expectations, a student’s potential is flattened rather than fueled, as Adam Grant explains in his book Hidden Potential.

Believing all children can learn is the first step toward effective instruction. Most adolescent students can master grade-level content when provided with the right support and guidance. Mindset alone is not enough, however; it must be paired with instruction that meets students’ needs.

Research shows just how critical this is. Dr. Reid Lyon, a neuroscientist at NICHD, found that of the 70 percent of children who struggle to read, 95 percent are “instructional casualties,” meaning their reading difficulties result from inadequate or ineffective instruction rather than inherent learning disabilities. This underscores the fact that struggling students are not incapable; they simply need the right instruction to succeed.

So, what does “the right instruction” look like? It is instruction grounded in evidence-based practices proven to improve literacy outcomes. Again, secondary teachers were not trained in literacy, so to provide impactful instruction, they must understand how the brain learns to read. One of the most influential frameworks for this is the Simple View of Reading, proposed by Philip Gough and William Tunmer in 1986. This model explains that reading comprehension is the product of decoding skills and language comprehension. A student must be able to both read words accurately and understand spoken language to derive meaning from a text. Weakness in either component can lead to difficulties in comprehension. The Simple View has been supported and validated by hundreds of empirical studies and is widely regarded as the most evidence-based model of reading comprehension.

This means that when students read below grade level, it is not a mystery; it is a signal. They often have unfinished learning in one or both components: decoding (accuracy and automaticity) and language comprehension (vocabulary and background knowledge), as well as fluency. When these foundational skills are not yet secure, comprehension is compromised, reinforcing the need for instruction that intentionally addresses both strands of reading development.

Impactful Instruction Is an Intervention

Understanding this connection clarifies an essential truth: Comprehension is not a single skill, but the result of multiple, interacting processes. Understanding the complexities of comprehension is the first step toward impactful instruction. When students are not able to meet grade-level standards, which means comprehension, the breakdown is in decoding, language, or both. Therefore, secondary teachers need to know how to support students using evidence-based practices and intentionally integrate them into core instruction, bringing literacy into literature and content areas. Resources such as the What Works Clearinghouse Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices and Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4–9 offer a strong starting point for helping students reach grade-level standards.

When planning instruction, teachers need to begin with the end in mind by asking two essential questions: “What do I want my students to learn?” and “How will I know if they learned it?” These questions help educators identify the critical skills and concepts students must master and determine the formative assessments that will measure their learning. This approach guides two key elements of lesson planning: Content and design. Once teachers are clear about the intended outcomes, they can work backward, drawing on evidence-based practices from the IES guides to support both decoding and language comprehension.

With the critical content in mind, teachers can decide which multisyllable words and essential vocabulary need to be pre-taught using explicit routines that actively engage all students. When students can read the words and understand their meanings, they are ready to explore the text’s deeper meaning. Building on backward planning, teachers support comprehension by developing students’ world knowledge, providing regular opportunities for questions and discussion, and explicitly teaching how to identify the main idea or gist through a structured format. While reading, teachers intentionally create time for extended discussion, guiding students to interpret the text and construct meaning collaboratively, ensuring that every instructional move aligns with the learning goals.

It is important to remember that if students cannot read the words, they should not be expected to tackle grade-level texts independently. Many adolescent students have unfinished learning, which can reduce their motivation and engagement as readers. Traditional practices such as cold calling, round-robin, or popcorn reading are ineffective. Instead, educators need to create a positive, supportive learning environment and scaffold texts using research-based strategies. Approaches such as echo reading, cloze reading, choral reading, and structured partner reading not only strengthen decoding and comprehension but also build students’ confidence and help them become capable, independent readers.

Intervention Is Good Instruction

As Dr. Julie Washington reminds us, “Never assume that the problem is with the student. Assume the problem is with the instruction or the assessment until proven otherwise.” When students struggle to meet grade-level standards, it is the teacher’s responsibility to guide their growth.

Effective instruction is effective intervention, but it depends on a deep understanding of literacy, not just content knowledge. Teachers who are clear about what students are learning and what success looks like, what John Hattie calls teacher clarity, with an effect size of 0.75, set students up to achieve at higher levels. In fact, Hattie’s research shows that the single greatest school factor influencing student achievement is the teacher, with an effect size of around 0.72 to 0.88. The most powerful interventions happen when teachers themselves are effective.

When we focus on refining our teaching, every lesson becomes an opportunity to intervene, support, and inspire. The best intervention is not separate from instruction; it is instruction done with clarity, expertise, and purpose.

To learn more, listen to the EDVIEW360 podcast Middle School Intervention That Works—Setting Students Up for Success This School Year, where I share my perspective about meeting adolescents where they are—academically, socially, and emotionally. 
 

REFERENCES

Children of the Code. (n.d.). Instructional confusion. In Interviews with Dr. G. Reid Lyon. Retrieved August 15, 2025

Grant, A. (2023). Hidden potential: The science of achieving greater things. Viking.

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. (2025). NAEP report card: Reading results (Grades 4 and 8). The Nation’s Report Card.