The secondary school reading problem is twofold. First, although a substantial number of students can read the words on a page, many are unable to comprehend what they read.

Second, large numbers of students can't read well enough. A recent report by ACT found that the ability to read complex text is the clearest differentiator between students who are likely to be prepared for college-level reading and those who are not. Only half of the high school graduates who took the ACT test demonstrated a readiness to read college-level texts.

Understanding, and being able to draw meaning from, complex texts requires a broad and sophisticated set of competencies. However, students frequently do not receive instruction on how to read expository texts, much less on how to learn from what they read in math, science, and social studies. Clearly, it is time for educators to explore alternative models of pedagogy and curriculum.

In part, reading problems in secondary schools persist because of the inadequacy of prevailing practices.

The most widely used approaches are posing teacher questions and applying strategies to bolster faltering comprehension. The questions teachers use to monitor comprehension primarily gauge surface understanding. They do not lead a student to develop a deep and full grasp of the text that can be recalled from memory.

Comprehension strategies, such as visualization and determining importance, give readers tools to use in situations where comprehension breaks down. Yet this approach presumes that all students are able to form an initial understanding of text on their own. Unfortunately, many times students are not, especially if they are reading about an unfamiliar topic or complex concept.

Neither teacher questioning nor a set of comprehension strategies alone is sufficient. Struggling readers need to learn how to assemble the words, phrases, and sentences in the text into coherent, comprehensible ideas. And even competent readers struggle to do that when they encounter complex text or text for which they have no background knowledge.

Furthermore, comprehension is not a generic skill; strategies differ for different subject areas. Understanding a mathematics text requires a set of skills that are not the same as those used in understanding a history text, because each discipline has its own way of marshalling and evaluating evidence.

Schools need to rethink how reading comprehension is taught and provide professional development that reinforces effective teaching and questioning techniques. We can begin by examining what we know about how skillful readers comprehend what they read.

In the past few years, cognitive scientists have learned a lot about what readers do while they read. Researchers have discovered that good readers make sense of text word–by—word, line-by-line, and moment-by-moment, developing an understanding as they go along. Their understanding changes and develops as they read, based on the words on the page and on the meaning they build in their minds from the text and from their own knowledge.

These findings suggest ways that teachers should teach comprehension. Helping students remember briefly what they have read might help them pass the next test, but it will not help them understand what they have read and retain their knowledge for the test next year.

One promising approach is to model comprehension processes for students. By reading a passage aloud, then demonstrating how they made sense of it, teachers can show students ways to link ideas and draw inferences.

Another approach is to have students write a summary of a text. In that way, they can show that they understand what the text says, not merely remember passages from it.

To implement these ideas, teachers need ongoing support and guidance, and tools to help them plan lessons and address the needs of English language learners and students requiring additional support. And schools should consider introducing longer periods that allow more time for literacy development.

We are changing classroom practice with an emphasis on comprehension. We are working to give teachers the tools and staff development necessary to ensure student learning.