Beyond the Early Years: Why Decodable Readers Are the Unfinished Business of Literacy
Falling or stagnating reading scores in middle school are a persistent problem in many states, and they signal a troubling truth: our work in literacy is a job half done. While significant investments have been made in early reading instruction, often yielding better scores in grades three and four, these gains are not translating into sustained reading proficiency for older students. The foundational skills taught in kindergarten through second grade are just the beginning; what happens—or fails to happen—in the intermediate and middle school years is a critical missing link.
According to reading expert Tim Shanahan in his recent article entitled “Our Middle School Reading Scores are Dropping – Help!”, the decline in middle school reading isn’t primarily a problem of phonics instruction. Most of that work is done early. Instead, the issue lies in what comes next. As students move beyond the primary grades, literacy instruction often becomes less focused and less explicit. Teachers may cut back on dedicated literacy time, and when they do teach reading, they often rely on practices that hinder rather than help.
One of the most damaging of these practices is the use of texts below a student’s grade level. While well-intentioned, teaching a fifth grader with a third-grade book ensures that they never catch up. They are not exposed to the more complex vocabulary, sentence structures, and advanced word analysis skills necessary to thrive in middle school. This practice effectively caps their reading growth, leaving them unprepared for the more challenging content they’ll encounter in science, social studies, and beyond. Shanahan highlights that this is a widespread issue, and the only schools that are successful in accelerating the achievement of struggling readers are those that avoid this approach.
Timothy Shanahan, Founding Director of the University of Illinois-Chicago Center for Literacy
This “unfinished business” also includes a lack of sustained instruction in critical areas like advanced word skills, reading fluency, and explicit comprehension strategies. Reading isn’t a single skill; it’s a complex set of interlocking abilities that need continuous development. While most young children are taught to sound out CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, many never receive systematic instruction in morphology (the study of word parts like prefixes and suffixes), multisyllabic words, or complex spelling patterns. This leaves them with a significant “decoding gap” that makes it nearly impossible to navigate the texts they’ll need to read in the upper grades. Fluency instruction also tends to drop off after second grade, even though fluency development continues through at least eighth grade for most students. This results in readers who can sound out words but do so slowly and without expression, hampering their comprehension.
The problem, then, is a perfect storm of insufficient instructional time, flawed teaching practices, and a lack of resources that support the ongoing development of crucial literacy skills. The challenge for educators is to find ways to provide targeted, effective intervention for the neurodiverse and striving readers who have not met these literacy thresholds. They need materials that are not only aligned with the Science of Reading but are also engaging and age-appropriate, helping them close the gaps without feeling relegated to “baby books.”
For students who have not yet reached the necessary decoding threshold, what is needed is a way to systematically build advanced word recognition skills, but within a context that honors their age and interests. They need books that are meticulously crafted to provide just the right amount of challenge and support, allowing them to practice new phonics concepts without frustration. The ideal solution would also minimize distractions and provide additional supports for those who need them most, such as English Language Learners or students without literate adults at home. These tools would help teachers implement the explicit, ongoing instruction in decoding, fluency, and comprehension that is so desperately needed to build a bridge from early literacy to middle school success.
A Complete Solution: How Our Close the Gap
Tumbleweed’s decodable readers are designed to address the very issues Shanahan identifies. They are more than just books; they are a comprehensive intervention system built to provide the “unfinished business” of literacy instruction for students in grades 2-6.
First and foremost, our books are rooted in the Science of Reading and a rigorous scope and sequence aligned to industry best practices. Each book is 95% decodable, meaning students can apply the specific phonics skill being taught without relying on guesswork. This provides the targeted, explicit instruction that Shanahan advocates for, helping older students catch up on the advanced word reading skills they missed. Features like a chart of prerequisite sound–spelling relationships in the back of each book and sections for extra practice with phonemes empower teachers to deliver the systematic instruction that is essential for closing the decoding gap.
The design of our books is also a direct solution to the problem of teaching with below-grade-level texts. Our stories are not “baby books”; they are quality, authentic literature with engaging stories and topics that are chosen to be relatable and non-triggering. We separate the text and illustrations on separate pages, a simple but profound design choice that removes distractions for striving readers and eliminates the possibility of guessing words from pictures. This ensures students are actually practicing their decoding skills, giving them the same experience as their peers who are reading grade-level texts. The result is books that are not only pedagogically sound but also respectful of students’ intelligence and age.
Furthermore, we recognize that true literacy requires more than just decoding. Our products provide robust support for comprehension, fluency, and cultural responsiveness. The inclusion of recorded narrations available via QR codes is a game-changer for ELL students or those without literate adults at home. It allows them to listen to the text, improving their fluency and prosody while they follow along, all outside of the classroom. The read–aloud feature at the end of each book, which is nonfiction for fiction titles and vice versa, builds background knowledge and vocabulary in a natural, engaging way. The Reflection section at the end of each book provides a scaffold for comprehension, encouraging students and teachers to engage in meaningful conversations about the text. Finally, our commitment to multilingual learner support and AAVE support helps create the culturally responsive classrooms that are essential for student success.
In short, our decodable readers are not a fleeting fix but a long-term solution. They provide a clear pathway for addressing the unfinished business of literacy, ensuring that students in grades 2-6 have the skills they need to become proficient readers and succeed in middle school and beyond.
