Several decades of research have established that time spent reading has a positive impact on the cognitive development and academic success of school-aged children and adolescents. Yet, reading among adolescents has been in decline in recent years while engagement with audiobooks has increased. Professionals in librarianship, children's…

This article highlights significant research about what below grade-level reading means in middle school classrooms and suggests a tested approach to improve reading comprehension levels significantly by using audio books. The use of these audio books can improve reading and academic performance for both English language learners (ELLs) and for…