Giving Compass' Take:

• Michael Ballone explains why all students, not just those who struggle to read, can benefit from reading interventions that push them to improve. 

• How can funders expand access to reading interventions for all students? Are successful students getting enough support in other areas? 

• Find out how American schools have been teaching reading wrong. 

Michael Ballone, director of curriculum for the K-8 Marlboro Township Public Schools in New Jersey, has a clear idea of what most literacy instruction gets wrong: it only serves struggling readers. “I think every child needs to have some kind of reading intervention,” says Ballone, a former seventh-grade English teacher. “It might mean acceleration or it might mean remediation. If it means we need to give students material one, two or three grade levels above what they are reading in order for them to progress, that’s what we do.”

What does differentiated literacy instruction mean?

Michael Ballone: Differentiating in literacy means tailoring text complexity to a child’s ability.

In the past, kids in K-2 would get a reading assessment with their teacher but students in upper grades were just expected to be able to read. It was difficult to ascertain those students’ reading levels unless you were a reading specialist, and even then, assessments were performed individually and were very time-consuming.

Read the full interview with Michael Ballone about reading interventions for all students by Kelli Anderson at EdSurge.