While Reading Scores Fall, Slant System™ Students Are Making Gains

You’ve probably heard the news by now: reading scores are down across the country. A new national report from researchers affiliated with Harvard Graduate School of Education, Stanford, and Dartmouth College is sounding the alarm on reading achievement in America. The report describes a long-term “learning recession,” with reading scores declining nationwide and many students struggling to recover academically after years of disrupted instruction.

But while national headlines focus on falling scores, teachers using the Slant System are reporting something very different inside their classrooms: measurable growth, renewed confidence, and students who are finally beginning to see themselves as readers.

The National Reading Crisis Is Real

According to the recent Education Scorecard findings, reading performance across the country has declined significantly over the last decade, with many districts seeing some of the lowest reading achievement levels in decades. Researchers noted that students who struggle the most are often the ones who need the most explicit, systematic instruction.

For many educators, this data confirms what they are already seeing every day:

• Students entering upper elementary and middle school unable to decode fluently
• Intervention programs producing limited growth
• Students losing confidence and avoiding reading altogether
• Teachers searching for approaches that are structured, practical, and effective

That is exactly why so many educators have turned to the Slant System.

“For the First Time in His Life, He Is Passing Reading”

One instructional coach and reading interventionist from South Carolina shared the story of three students she worked with using Slant System.

A first grader repeating the year increased from:

• 0 words correct per minute to 57 words correct per minute
• 76% accuracy to 98% accuracy on grade-level text
• 135% of his stretch growth goal 

A second grader:

• Achieved 256% of his stretch growth goal
• Moved from early first-grade reading levels to third- and fourth-grade comprehension levels
• Increased oral reading fluency from 30 to 87 words correct per minute
• Improved reading grades from a 40 to an 84 and made the honor roll

And a fifth grader who entered school decoding at a kindergarten level:

• Achieved 362% of his stretch growth goal
• Moved from kindergarten to third-grade level in just five months
• Increased reading accuracy from 63% to 99%
• Began successfully reading fourth-grade text

But the most powerful moment was not the data point.

The student’s father shared that his son had never volunteered to read aloud at church because he was embarrassed and unable to do so confidently. Then one week, he volunteered to read two paragraphs aloud perfectly.

“All the other boys clapped for him.”

That is the kind of transformation numbers alone cannot capture.

Beyond Scores: Students Who Want to Read

Again and again, Slant System teachers describe the same shift:
students who once avoided reading are now choosing to read independently.

Teachers report:

• Students checking books out of the library voluntarily
• Students asking to attend intervention sessions on days they are not scheduled
• Students reading chapter books independently for the first time
• Students showing pride and ownership in their progress

One teacher from Illinois shared:

“I have seen my students’ fluency rates increase with each unit, but what I enjoy even more is their confidence growing. It makes me so proud to hear them reading with emotion and cadence because they no longer struggle to sound out every word.”

Another teacher from Wisconsin described a student saying during a lesson:

“This doesn’t feel as hard.”

For many educators, statements like that represent a major breakthrough because they signal a shift not only in skill level, but also in mindset and confidence.

Why Teachers Say Slant System Works

Educators consistently point to several factors that make the Slant System effective:

Explicit, Structured Instruction

Teachers describe the program as systematic, organized, and easy to implement while still aligning with structured literacy and Orton-Gillingham principles.

Multimodal Techniques

Teachers repeatedly referenced Slant’s tapping, sweeping, blending, and phonemic awareness activities as “game changers” for students who previously struggled to connect sounds to print.

Student Engagement

Teachers report that explicitly teaching engagement behaviors such as active participation, responding chorally, and staying physically engaged, helps students access instruction more successfully.

Consistency and Predictability

Many educators emphasized that students thrive because the instructional routines are predictable and structured, reducing anxiety and cognitive overload.

One special education supervisor from Belvidere, Illinois summarized it this way:

“The anxiety associated with reading has been replaced by a sense of agency.”

A Structured Literacy Approach That Teachers Can Actually Use

Many Slant System educators come into the program with extensive literacy training, including Orton-Gillingham and LETRS backgrounds. Yet they often describe Slant System as the bridge that helped them turn theory into practical, sustainable instruction.

One teacher explained:

“I love Slant because I find it very easy to implement, well organized, and effective.”

Another wrote:

“Using Slant has changed the way I wake up and come to work. I know I’m not failing my kids.”

What Slant System teachers are reporting is clear:

• students making measurable gains,
• students building confidence,
• and students discovering the joy of reading for the first time.

The Bigger Picture

At a time when schools across the country are urgently searching for solutions to declining reading scores, teacher experiences like these matter. While the national picture may feel discouraging, educators are proving every day that students can make meaningful reading gains when they receive explicit, structured literacy instruction delivered consistently and intentionally.

And for many students, those changes go far beyond academics. When children finally begin to experience success in reading, it changes how they see school, how they see themselves, and what they believe is possible for their future.

Because when a child finally learns to read with confidence, everything changes.

To learn more about the Slant System or read additional educator experiences, visit: Slant System Reviews