Since kindergarten, high school students have shown up to school every day ready to learn, and we have failed them (“New Graduates’ ACT Scores Hit a 30-Year Low,” Oct. 12, 2022). According to 2022 ACT scores, only 41 percent of students are college-ready in reading. ACT CEO Janet Goodwin is correct when she says test performance is evidence of “longtime systemic failures.”

Chief among these failures has been teaching reading as a one-size-fits-all endeavor. It is not. In key grades, such as 3rd, 6th, and 9th, we must administer an individualized diagnostic assessment to measure components of literacy. Students who are reading below their grade level must receive sustained, individualized tutoring to close those gaps.