Reading difficulties and disabilities present serious and potentially lifelong challenges. Children who do not read well are more likely to be retained a grade in school, drop out of high school, become a teen parent, or enter the juvenile justice system. Building on the extant research and seminal studies, including the National Reading Panel and…

Despite public skepticism regarding steadily increasing numbers of learning-disabled students, most experts agree that 5 percent of schoolchildren suffer severe difficulties with language and other skills. There are three explanations: remediation is ineffective after second grade; identification comes too late; and federal policies overlook…