This report describes the experiences of teachers of grades 3–8 working with striving readers, those teachers' knowledge of reading instruction, and the tools and resources available to or needed by them to support their students in becoming strong readers. It highlights the importance of including teachers in upper elementary and middle grades in resource development and offer guidance to policymakers implementing reading instruction reforms.

What's Missing from Teachers' Toolkits to Support Student Reading in Grades 3–8

Findings from the RAND American Teacher Panel

Anna Shapiro, Rebecca Sutherland, Julia H. Kaufman

ResearchPublished Aug 29, 2024

Despite the growing body of research on how to support older readers, few studies consider whether U.S. teachers can identify students who have difficulty reading instructional materials across content areas or whether teachers feel like they have the knowledge and resources to support those students. Such information could lay the groundwork for states and school systems to provide better supports to teachers to address students' reading difficulties. In this report, researchers explore U.S. public school teachers' perceptions of students' difficulties with reading in grades 3–8, those teachers' knowledge about how students learn to read, their experiences supporting these readers, and what they need to help students become proficient readers.

The findings in this report highlight the importance of including teachers in upper elementary and middle school grades in resource development and allocation and offer guidance to policymakers designing or implementing reading instruction reforms.

Key Findings

  • According to a nationally representative sample of U.S. grade 3–8 teachers across all subjects, students spend more than half of their class time reading and writing.
  • These grade 3–8 teachers estimate that 44 percent of their students always or nearly always experience difficulty reading the written content within their instructional materials.
  • Among teachers of grades 3–8, 40 percent hold misconceptions about how students develop word-reading skills, and nearly half of teachers in these grades report that their primary source of knowledge about reading instruction comes from their personal experiences in the classroom.
  • Almost three-quarters of teachers in grades 3–8 say that they need access to more resources to identify and support students with reading difficulties.

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RAND Style Manual
Shapiro, Anna, Rebecca Sutherland, and Julia H. Kaufman, What's Missing from Teachers' Toolkits to Support Student Reading in Grades 3–8: Findings from the RAND American Teacher Panel, RAND Corporation, RR-A3358-1, 2024. As of September 11, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3358-1.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Shapiro, Anna, Rebecca Sutherland, and Julia H. Kaufman, What's Missing from Teachers' Toolkits to Support Student Reading in Grades 3–8: Findings from the RAND American Teacher Panel. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3358-1.html.
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The research described in this report was sponsored by the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) and conducted by RAND Education and Labor.

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