Adolescent literacy rates in the United States remain a critical concern. On the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessments, approximately one-third of eighth and twelfth graders scored below the Basic level (National Center for Education Statistics, 2024). Further, the overall mean reading scores were significantly lower than previous years, indicating a decline in adolescents’ reading skills. Despite the need, little is known about effective word-reading instructional practices for adolescents (Shanahan, 2025). In this meta-analysis, we investigated the effectiveness of interventions for adolescents in which word reading was the primary component, and we examined potential moderators. We synthesized findings from 34 studies involving 2,718 participants and 200 effects across 37 interventions. Half of the sample were identified as having a learning disability. Our summary effect estimate indicated that word-reading interventions yielded significant effects for adolescents across outcome types (g = 0.30, SE = 0.11, p = .009). Effects were significant for outcomes measuring decoding, nonword decoding, reading comprehension, and spelling (g = 0.29 – 0.45) but not for reading fluency. No significant differences emerged between intervention approaches, though trends suggested that interventions using whole word recognition were associated with null effects. More controlled group studies are needed to better understand which approaches are differentially effective. Nonetheless, summary effects indicate that language-based, targeted word-reading interventions have positive impacts on most adolescent literacy outcomes. These findings are discussed in light of systems-level challenges in supporting foundational reading skills for secondary students.
