America is in a reading crisis. The authors of this new report point out, two in three American fourth-graders are performing below proficient in the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)--known as the "Nation's Report Card." There's another troubling component to this crisis. Important segments of society are being left behind. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) Center for Research on Human Capital and Education has issued a series of reports aimed at identifying key problems in children's achievement struggles in America's educational system and proposing ways to address them. This report begins with an overview of America's reading crisis, discussing the scope of the problem and providing context for the troubling results that are seen. The authors then direct attention to a discussion of skill-based explanations for low reading and comprehension ability, and then goes on to describe how some students can be caught in a maladaptive cycle when it comes to developing reading skills. A series of actionable recommendations are then proposed for policymakers, educators, and assessment designers to consider in support of development of student reading skills. Among the things looked at is how to stimulate students' desire to read, thus increasing their chances of continually developing their reading skills.