LAUSR

Reading is arguably the most important skill a student will develop and rely on throughout their academic career and later lives. Nearly all teachers depend on textbooks to deliver content (Bruhn & Hasselbring, 2013). This is reflected in Common Core State Standards that define a literate student as having the skills to “actively seek wide, deep, and thoughtful engagement with high quality literary and informational texts that builds knowledge, enlarges experience, and broadens worldviews” (Digital Chalkboard, n.d.). Literacy acquisition can have a profound impact on a person’s self-esteem, self-determination, and independence (Downing, 2005), and knowing how to read grants access to a wide variety of information found in other subject materials. As students move into middle and high school, teachers move progressively faster through textbooks, and much of a student’s independent work will require the student to read and respond to a variety of text-based materials (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2005).