Date & Time: Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 2 p.m. ET
Too many students are reaching middle and high school without the foundational reading skills needed to comprehend increasingly complex texts. Recent NAEP data shows 34% of eighth graders now score “below basic” in reading, the largest share in over three decades. One way to better understand this challenge is through the “decoding threshold,” the point at which students can read words accurately and automatically enough to focus their attention on meaning.
Students who have not crossed this threshold may be able to manage simpler texts but begin to struggle in upper elementary and secondary grades. As texts become more complex, weaknesses in decoding, multisyllabic word reading and automatic word recognition can increasingly interfere with fluency and comprehension.
In this session, explore the decoding threshold and how purposeful fluency practice can help students build the accuracy and automaticity needed to access increasingly complex text. Walk away with a clear, low-lift starting point your teams can try, evaluate, and eventually scale.
Bonus: Attendees who join the live event will be able to participate in a ThoughtExchange workshop to share and rank best practices from their peers.
You’ll learn:
- The Decoding Threshold: How researchers identify this critical point, the data behind it and its significance for students in grades 3–12
- Research on Struggling Readers: Why students with decoding difficulties can fall further behind in comprehension as texts become more complex from grade to grade
- Building Fluency and Comprehension: How multisyllabic word reading, automatic word recognition and complex syntax help students read more fluently and understand increasingly complex texts
- Scalable Decoding Strategies: How repeated reading and other practical approaches can strengthen fluency instruction
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