Male underachievement in language arts is a continuing problem. At the participating school for this study, girls in Grades 3-6 have continued to outscore boys by 8% to 24% in language arts. As a result, school administrators identified male students as a population that need to demonstrate growth in this subject to meet state expectations. This study explored the problem of these underachieving male students by evaluating reading instruction in those grades. The conceptual framework for this case study was constructivist-based learning theories. The two primary research questions explored (a) the skills and strategies upper elementary teachers used when teaching reading comprehension and (b) how upper elementary teachers modified reading instruction for boys. Interviews, classroom inventories, and teacher lesson plans were gathered from 18 participants and analyzed via typological analysis and inductive analysis. Results showed reading instructional strengths included drilling for skills, using novels, small group instruction, explicit instruction, transactional learning, self-selected silent reading, and basal instruction. The weakest area was comprehension strategies due to a heavy reliance on a basal reading program. Participants recommended increasing the amount of embedded professional development and purchasing more books for each classroom, including both short novels and nonfiction. Social change can be achieved by increasing teacher knowledge through professional training which would translate into making the classroom a more positive learning environment. These changes can lead to better readers who are prepared for high school, college, and the workforce, thus resulting in lower unemployment and less poverty. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]