The reading program that changed my view of reading programs

I have never been a fan of reading programs. Lacking in rigor, authenticity, and originality, the vast majority that I have seen turn teaching from a creative science to a scripted discussion with some follow-up worksheets. I have witnessed reading programs flutter into our district, alluring and colorful, only to limp out at the end of the year, leaving a trail of overspent budgets and disillusion in their wake.

This all changed for me last year, when I began doing research into techniques to increase reading fluency simultaneously with comprehension for struggling readers. My research brought me across Reading Plus, an online reading program, and, for whatever reason, I decided to read on.