Addressing the reading needs of adolescent learners living in rural areas may create challenges for teachers and administrators in the age of accountability. This study addressed this issue by implementing two explicit instructional approaches with struggling adolescent readers (n = 49) in a rural middle school in the southeastern United States. Both programs were commercially available Direct Instruction (DI) programs. The sixth, seventh, and eighth grade participants were 2 or more years behind in reading achievement as measured by an individualized test of achievement. Placement tests for commercially available DI programs were used as decision points for placing participants in 1 of 2 groups. A 2 × 4 multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed significant differences between the two instructional groups in that those with more skills demonstrated more gains on reading measures used in this study. These results indicate that systematic, explicit reading instruction can be delivered successfully in general education settings for middle school students who are struggling readers; however, attention must be given to the initial capabilities of students when evaluating the effectiveness of educational programming.