What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs [Paperback]

A strength of using Allington’s book is reading friendliness.  As I read his book, I felt like I was having a conversation with him. 

- Dr. Stacey Leftwich, Rowan University, Department of Reading, Glassboro, NJ

This book beautifully frames the beliefs that guide practice in working with struggling readers and overall all readers.

This is an accessible, readable, and engaging affirmation for practicing teachers, reminding them of their importance in literacy programs and offering ideas for their continued growth and ever-developing repertoire of effective strategies and approaches.

I commend Allington for this faith in teachers as decision-makers.

 - Denise H. Stuart, Ph.D., The University of Akron, Curricular and Instructional Studies, Akron OH  

Dear Dr. Allington,

I have just finished reading your book What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs. I have been quoting you for the past couple of weeks during which I have been reading your book. It is such a helpful book! Here are my favourite parts:

1.       The general guideline (I believe it was from NY) that children read and respond to 25+ books per year.

2.       The advice to calculate the percentage of reading accuracy.

3.       The suggestion of having 500 - 1500 books in a classroom roughly half and half fiction and non-fiction. Half at reading level and half below. I am busy counting my books. What wonderful guidelines!! While I often read about general targets, there is something about these numbers that is giving me a specific initial target (very motivating!) 

- Ingrid Veilleux, Adjunct Teaching Professor, University of British Columbia; Learning Assistance Teacher, Brighouse Elementary, Richmond, BC

A part of the What Really Matters series, the Third Edition of What Really Matters for Struggling Readers examines the increasing amount of research demonstrating that we can teach every child to read.

Using non-technical summaries, nationally recognized scholar and author Dick Allington delivers a concise and balanced introduction to reading remediation and intervention programs; showing teachers how to use a variety of best practices with children who are struggling readers in order to transform them into proficient readers. This new edition includes new findings on reading achievement and instruction, reading volume as it relates to reading proficiency, reader-text match, fluency development, comprehension strategies and instruction for struggling readers. Its emphasis is on explaining what the research says, why it works and how to use this information to provide intensive, expert reading instruction for all children. The continued focus on helping teachers design reading remediation and intervention programs around well-established reality and research-based components is framed within the confines of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Written by authors you know and trust, each of the books in the What Really Matters series offers a succinct presentation of what matters most when teaching different aspects of the reading process. With a thought-provoking, rich presentation, Dick Allington explores complex issues teachers of reading face in today’s classrooms and brings each of the topics to life. These brief and inexpensive books are written in a lively narrative with clear organization, exceptional pedagogy, and special features. Their friendly design and compact size make the books accessible, convenient, and easy-to read.