You Can’t Learn Much from Books You Can’t Read

R. Allington

ABSTRACT  

Many students in grades 5-12 struggle to learn from content-area textbooks that don't match their reading levels. The author offers two possible reasons that so many students in grades 5-12 struggle with content-area learning: the mismatch between the reading levels of content-area textbooks and students' reading abilities; and the reliance on these textbooks as the main instructional resource for all students. He describes how exemplary teachers avoid these problems by providing multiple levels of instructional resources, offering students options in what they learn and how they demonstrate their learning, and individualizing instruction.