Xtreme Reading
Guiding Instructional Principles:
- Value each student as a person and a learner
- Personalize teaching and learning
- Connect reading to dreams and quality of life
- Continually model expert reading behaviors
- Establish high expectations for each student
- Engage students in learning so “each minute counts”
- Provide abundant opportunities for scaffolded practice
- Provide helpful and ongoing feedback
- Empower students to fluently and intelligently use strategies
- Hold students accountable for outcome goals
- Get significant results
Program Overview:
Xtreme Reading is a yearlong, spiral curriculum that teaches eight core reading and motivation strategies. Instruction includes explicit teaching, guided practice, meaningful feedback, and independent application of strategies in and beyond school.
Who It Serves:
The program is designed for students (at or above a fourth‑grade reading level) who struggle with reading fluency, limited vocabulary, limited comprehension of words and multiple word meanings, limited background and conceptual knowledge, and few effective reading strategies that enhance understanding and remembering of oral and written language.
Xtreme Reading professional developers and coaches support teachers in the classroom setting through classroom observations, model lessons, feedback about effective instruction, student data review, and ongoing support for teachers and students.
Program Goal:
Xtreme Reading helps students become stronger, more strategic readers—building a foundation for academic and lifelong success.
Author(s): Jean Schumaker, Donald D. Deshler, Michael Hock, Janis Bulgren
Publication Info: University of Kansas, 2015; current edition, 2021
To order this product, call or email KU CRL at: 785-864-4780 / orderkucrl@ku.edu.
Several studies, varying in size and methodological rigor, have examined the effect of the Xtreme Reading Program on adolescents’ reading skills. Importantly, the studies that provided strong professional learning for teachers and documented high‑fidelity implementation consistently found statistically significant positive gains in students’ reading performance (Boudah, 2022; Boudah, 2018; Faddis et al., 2011). These findings demonstrate that when Xtreme Reading is implemented as designed, it produces meaningful improvements in students’ reading skills.
Research Articles:
- Xtreme Reading Evidence for ESSA rating - STRONG (external web link)
- Boudah, Daniel J. (2022). Intensive Reading Strategies Intervention for Low Achieving Adolescents. Neurocognition Science Laboratory Research in Brief, Volume 1 Issue 5, 2022 ISSN: 2831-7882
- Boudah, D. J. (2018). Evaluation of Intensive Reading Strategies Intervention for Low-Performing Adolescents with and without Learning Disabilities. Insights into Learning Disabilities, 15(2), 195-205.
- Faddis, B. J., Beam, M., Maxim, L., Vale Gandhi, E., Hahn, K., & Hale, R. (2011). Portland Public School’s Striving Readers Program: Year 5 evaluation report. Portland, OR: RMC Research Corporation.
In contrast, studies that did not show program effects involved dozens of schools where many teachers received limited training and did not implement the curriculum with fidelity. This pattern is consistent with national research showing that reading interventions depend heavily on the quality of teacher implementation, a known factor influencing effectiveness across secondary literacy programs.
The Xtreme Reading Program itself is a research-based, spiral curriculum that integrates multiple validated SIM Learning Strategies. Schumaker (2023) documents the extensive development and validation work behind the program. Additional studies of individual Learning Strategies taught in intervention classes have shown gains in reading comprehension (Cantrell et al., 2010) and long-term academic outcomes, including improved achievement and reduced dropout rates (Lowder et al., 2022).
Supporting Articles:
- O’Brien C., Boudah D.J., Lopuch J., and Nance A. (2023). How do we best support adolescents with low academic performance and learning disabilities in the era of pandemic learning loss? The importance of intensive learning strategy interventions. Front. Educ. 8:1215007. DOI:10.3389/feduc.2023.1215007
- Schumaker, J.B. (2023), Lessons Learned during the Development and Validation of an Intensive Evidence-Based Reading Intervention for Secondary Students. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 37: 294-313. https://doi.org/10.1111/ldrp.12293
- Lowder, C., O’Brien, C., Hancock, D., Hachen, J., & Wang, C. (2022). High school success: A learning strategies intervention to reduce drop-out rates. The Urban Review, 54(4), 509-530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-021-00624-z
- Cantrell, S., Almasi, J. F., Carter, J. C., Rintamaa, M., & Madden, A. (2010). The Impact of a Strategy-Based Intervention on the Comprehension and Strategy Use of Struggling Adolescent Readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 257-280. DOI:10.1037/a0018212
Together with Xtreme Reading Studies, this body of evidence shows that Xtreme Reading is effective when implemented with high-quality teacher preparation and fidelity, and it provides districts with a well-researched, structured approach to improving the reading skills of struggling adolescents.
Podcast
- Lenz, K. B., Schumaker, J. B., Deshler, D. D., & Beals, V. L. (1996). The Word Identification Strategy. In J. Schumaker, D. D. Deshler, M. Hock, & J. Bulgren, The Xtreme Reading Program (2021). University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.
- Harris, M. L., Schumaker, J. B., Deshler, D. D. (2008). The Word Mapping Strategy. In J. Schumaker, D. D. Deshler, M. Hock, & J. Bulgren, The Xtreme Reading Program (2021). University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.
- Schumaker, J.B., Knight, J., & Deshler, D .D. (2007). Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing Strategy. In J. Schumaker, D. D. Deshler, M. Hock, & J. Bulgren, The Xtreme Reading Program (2021). University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.
- Fritschmann, N. S., Schumaker, J. B., Deshler, D. D. (2007). The Inference Strategy. In J. Schumaker, D. D. Deshler, M. Hock, & J. Bulgren, The Xtreme Reading Program (2021). University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.
- Schumaker, J. b., Denton, P. h., & Deshler, D. D. (1984). The Paraphrasing Strategy. In J. Schumaker, D. D. Deshler, M. Hock, & J. Bulgren, The Xtreme Reading Program (2021). University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.
- Schumaker, J. B., Deshler, D. D., Nolan, S. M., Alley, G. R. (1994). The Self-Questioning Strategy. In J. Schumaker, D. D. Deshler, M. Hock, & J. Bulgren, The Xtreme Reading Program (2021). University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.
- Schumaker, J. B., Deshler, D. D., Zemitzsch, A. & Warner, M. M. (1993). The Visual Imagery Strategy. In J. Schumaker, D. D. Deshler, M. Hock, & J. Bulgren, The Xtreme Reading Program (2021). University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.
Xtreme Reading is a part of the Strategic Instruction Model from the University of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning.
An accessible version of the documents on this site will be made available upon request. Please contact the KU CRL Professional Development Research Institute, at simpd@ku.edu to request the document be made available in an accessible format.