Despite numerous successes achieved by American schools in recent years, one of the remaining challenges is the large number of adolescents who lack basic literacy skills. Nearly 25 percent of 8th and 12th graders score below the basic level in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and only 70 percent of all high school students graduate from high school. For African-American and Hispanic adolescents, the graduation rate drops to nearly 50 percent. Deficits in literacy skills can be compounded when content teachers at the high school level, believing students should have been taught these skills in earlier grades, are not prepared to teach the reading, writing and other literacy skills their students need. In this article, the author discusses the research-validated instructional model that help adolescents learn how to learn, providing a means for them to achieve independence and success. Literacy successes on the secondary school level require a significant commitment on the part of all staff. Failing to successfully respond to the literacy problems facing many of the nation's youth will have significant consequences.