Reading performance in third grade has significantly declined across the United States in recent years, suggesting a critical problem that was addressed in this study. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of K-3 teachers working in a rural elementary school district regarding a decline since 2018 in the reading performance of students in third grade in one state in the southern United States. The conceptual framework was based on Chall's concept of "conventional wisdom" in reading instruction, which guided three research questions about teachers' observations of student skill in phonemic awareness, vocabulary usage, and fluency. Ten teachers participated in semistructured interviews, which were coded for thematic analysis. The results revealed that students in third grade lack mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary usage, and fluency, and teachers attributed poor reading ability in third grade to lack of instructional time, poor student motivation, and failure of teachers in earlier grades to remediate learning gaps. Recommendations for future research include understanding why teachers promote students to the next grade when they have not mastered grade-level skills, investigating parents' perspectives on reading, and exploring ways to increase student motivation for reading. These study findings may contribute to positive social change by improving reading instruction and shaping administrative policies to better support students' academic success. With attention and commitment to solving the problem of low reading mastery, young students will become confident readers, ready for the fourth grade. [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.]