Over the years, educational research has provided important insights into how children learn to read. In the last decade, it also has been influential in helping to create new programs, teaching practices, and policies that support the goal of all children reading well by the end of third grade. Yet, while most researchers would agree that early reading is important, the unfortunate truth remains that millions of middle and high school students are still struggling to read long after their third-grade year is over. Students need to develop advanced literacy skills to comprehend, analyze, and synthesize large quantities of information in today's world. Since research shows that literacy development is a continuum over one's lifetime, improving reading skills in early grades cannot be the only goal. All students need to develop into proficient readers, writers, and critical thinkers in the middle and high school years. The challenge lies in the fact that some students will require more help than the others to do so. (Contains 13 footnotes.)