How we're rebuilding literacy--and confidence--in our high school

Key points:

Students aren’t just reading better–they’re reading because they want to
Solving our literacy crisis starts in the lecture hall
From school year to summer: Why reliable edtech matters to boost literacy
For more news on literacy initiatives, visit eSN’s Innovative Teaching hub

By the time students reach high school, reading struggles are harder to hide–and harder to address. Unlike early grades where texts are simpler and foundational skills are the focus, high school classes require students to engage with complex academic materials that demand strong decoding and comprehension abilities. For many struggling readers, this gap between their skills and classroom expectations can feel overwhelming–fueling frustration, disengagement, and self-doubt.

At our Title I high school in Los Angeles, CA–where over 90 percent of students face economic hardship–we are uniquely autonomous from any feeder grade schools, which means we have no influence on early teaching methods. By the time many students walked through our doors, their reading habits, self-doubt, and patterns of disengagement were already deeply ingrained.

Despite these compounding challenges, we continued to hold our older students to grade-level standards, requiring them to comprehend complex texts and content with words they often couldn’t even pronounce. The disconnect between expectations and reality was stark, and it was our students who were paying the price.

The urgency to address upper-level literacy in our school became impossible to ignore. We needed strategies that didn’t just simplify texts, but empowered students to decode, understand, and thrive with challenging material–while rebuilding their confidence and sense of agency.

We were not just teaching students how to read–we were working to undo years of academic trauma, rebuild confidence, and reconnect students to learning in a way that felt relevant and empowering. Confronted with overwhelming odds, we had to implement targeted, innovative strategies to meet students where they were.

What follows are three key initiatives our school has put into place to support literacy growth among our high schoolers–approaches designed not only to improve reading skills, but to foster engagement, restore agency, and create pathways to long-term academic success.

Inclusive classrooms with layered support

One of the most effective shifts we have made in supporting high school literacy is moving from a “pull-out” to a “push-in” model of instruction. Instead of removing struggling readers from their classrooms and unintentionally reinforcing feelings of isolation or inadequacy, we bring targeted literacy support directly into mainstream settings. This approach allows us to acknowledge and adapt to the wide range of reading abilities present without separating students from their peers. Everyone remains part of the same learning community, and no one feels like a guest in the room.

In this environment, struggling readers are surrounded by classmates who have already begun to shift their mindset from “reading is impossible” to “I can do this.” That kind of peer modeling and shared progress builds confidence, creates momentum, and reinforces that growth is possible for everyone. Literacy support becomes not a label, but an opportunity–embedded in daily learning, and open to all.

The right learning strategy

For older students who struggle with reading, decoding English can feel overwhelming–especially with its inconsistent spelling patterns, silent letters, and exceptions to phonics rules. Languages like Arabic and Vietnamese support learners with visual cues, called diacritics, that clarify pronunciation and reduce confusion. We’ve adopted a similar approach for our high school learners through the use of “glyphs”–visual markings added to English words that highlight irregular sounds, silent letters, and syllable breaks.

Unlike traditional supports that often rely on memorization or passive consumption of simplified materials, Readable English (the solution provider that we partnered with for this work) empowers students to actively decode and engage with complex texts. For students who may have missed foundational instruction or emergent bilinguals, glyphs offer a pathway to build decoding skills with clarity and confidence. Rather than relying on guesswork or giving up on unfamiliar words, students can now approach reading with tools that make it manageable, empowering them to become more fluent and independent readers.

By emphasizing fluency first, we break down phonemic barriers, allowing comprehension to follow naturally. Students begin to experience success quickly–pronouncing words they couldn’t recognize just weeks before–and that success builds confidence and motivation. Instead of being held back or pulled out, they’re now reading alongside peers, tracking their own growth, and reclaiming their identity as capable learners. This shift not only improves literacy, but it also restores agency and fosters lasting academic resilience.

Empower teachers to lead change

When educators are trusted to recognize needs, research options, and pilot solutions, the results are more meaningful, sustainable, and tailored to the realities of the classroom. Instead of mandating top-down initiatives, we gave our teachers autonomy and support to explore new strategies. We sent a team to the Council for Exceptional Children, where they engaged with cutting-edge practices and returned energized with actionable ideas to support literacy. We began by piloting one promising program in a single class. Because it came from teacher initiative, not an administrative directive, the buy-in was immediate–and so was the impact. Student engagement increased, and literacy growth followed.

When teachers are not only included in the conversation but are leading it, they bring creativity, passion, and a deep understanding of their students’ needs. That’s how real, lasting change takes root in schools.

The results of our literacy efforts have exceeded even our highest expectations. What began as a strategy to help students access grade-level texts turned into a catalyst for broader academic transformation. Our English learners saw such significant growth on the ELPAC that many were reclassified midyear–an outcome we hadn’t anticipated but now celebrate. Special education students are expanding their vocabularies at a rapid pace, and our general education students are tackling challenging texts with growing confidence and skill. Across the board, students are making double-digit gains in reading levels, some advancing by as much as four or five grade levels in a single year.

More importantly, they’re not just reading better–they’re reading because they want to. Parents are noticing the change, too–sending emails about children who have gone from avoiding books to reading for pleasure daily. When students see their own progress, they engage more, take ownership, and begin to believe they truly can succeed.

These outcomes are more than just academic wins–they’re the foundation for lifelong success, proving that when we invest in the right strategies, we don’t just teach students how to read; we empower them to shape their futures with confidence, curiosity, and a voice that’s finally their own.