"If I had to recommend just one book to middle and secondary teachers working to support struggling readers, this would have to be the book. When Kids Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do is a comprehensive handbook filled with practical strategies that teachers of all subjects can use to make reading skills transparent and accessible to adolescents. Bending theory with practice throughout, Kylene Beers moves teachers from assessment to instruction - from describing dependent reading behaviours to suggesting ways to help students with vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, work recognition, response to text, and so much more. But it's not just the strategies that make this book so valuable. It's the invitations to "step inside a classroom" and eavesdrop on teacher/student interactions. It's the student profiles, the "if/then" charts, the extensive booklists and, of course, the experiences of a brilliant reading teacher. This is simply the best book published to date to support struggling adolescent readers!"
Gillda Leitenberg, District-wide Coordinator, English/Literacy Toronto District School Board
Dr. Kylene Beers is currently an international literacy consultant and previously was a Senior Reading Researcher at the Comer School Development Program at Yale University. She began her career as a middle school language arts teacher outside of Houston, TX. She is the author or co-author of many best-selling books including When Kids Can’t Read/What Teachers Can Do; Forged by Reading; Disrupting Thinking; Reading Nonfiction; and Notice and Note – Strategies for Close Reading. Disrupting Thinking, which she co-authored with Robert Probst, is a 2018 recipient of the Teachers Choice Awards.
Kylene has served on committees with the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English and is an often-invited keynote speaker to national and state conventions. She has served as president of the National Council of Teachers of English and is currently serving as a board member for the international LitWorld Foundation. She is a recipient of the NCTE Leadership Award and the NCTE Middle Grades Outstanding Teacher award.
Most importantly, Kylene is a teacher who continues to work in classrooms today across the nation as she works shoulder-to-shoulder with teachers and students. When not on an airplane, Kylene lives on her ranch with her husband, Brad, and their fabulous dog, Coda, in central Texas.
