We are pleased to contribute to this inaugural issue of The Reading League Journal. The journal's goal is to share information about linking reading science to educational practice. The need is great: literacy levels in the US are shockingly low; a very large percentage of children and adults have only basic reading skills, as indicated by every systematic survey over the past 40 years. Reading achievement as measured on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and other assessments shows that the number of poor readers (basic and below basic levels) is larger than the number of good readers (proficient and advanced). These results can't be blamed on the test (e.g., because the NAEP scored too harshly) because the same pattern has been observed with different assessments, administered by different organizations, with children of different ages and with adults, over several decades. [This paper was published in "Reading League Journal" v1 n1 p7-11 2020.]