Commentary: By high school, the reading gap becomes a life gap
Jul 13, 2026
By Katie Gomersall, Jul 9, 2026
When I began my career as a special education teacher in Florida, I believed most learning gaps could be closed with the right support, enough time and strong relationships between schools and families. After serving in traditional schools and virtual schools as a special education leader and now as a high school principal at Carolus Online Academy, I still believe that years later.
I also know we are running out of time to ignore what many educators are seeing every day. Across the country and here in South Carolina, high school teachers are meeting students who struggle to read on grade level, organize their thoughts in writing or complete assignments independently. There’s even a name for it now: the learning recession.
According to the Education Scorecard, students’ skills started declining more than a decade ago, and the pandemic only worsened the situation. These are bright, capable young people with potential and ambition. Yet too many have entered high school already years behind in foundational literacy skills.
And once students reach high school, catching up becomes even harder. This is not about blaming students. It is not about blaming parents. And it certainly is not about blaming teachers, many of whom are working harder than ever to meet increasingly complex academic and behavioral needs in the classroom.
This is about telling the truth: Literacy begins long before high school, and schools cannot solve this challenge alone. As a principal in a virtual public school, I have had to rethink how to support students because their needs are so significant. In some classrooms, we are moving toward team-based teaching models, with one educator focused heavily on classroom management and student support, while another focuses on instruction. This approach allows us to better meet students where they are while helping them gain critical skills.
This is not a long-term solution to the larger problem. When students arrive in ninth grade unable to read with confidence, write or communicate their ideas, the educational system has to reverse years of struggle. High school should be a time when students are building toward college, careers and independence, not fighting to master foundational literacy skills. That work has to begin much earlier.
Parents and caregivers remain the most important influence in a child’s educational journey, especially in the early years. Reading to children, encouraging independent reading, limiting distractions and making literacy part of everyday life matter deeply. Bedtime stories, trips to the library, conversations around the dinner table — these moments are essential to building vocabulary, comprehension, confidence and curiosity long before a student walks into a high school classroom.
While technology has created incredible learning opportunities, it’s also created more competition for children’s attention than ever before. In fact, the Education Scorecard’s report found social media was a major contributing factor in the performance decline. Short-form content and constant digital stimulation can make sustained reading and critical thinking more difficult. Strong reading habits at home are no longer just beneficial; they’re essential.
We will continue adapting. We will continue innovating. We will continue finding new ways to support students academically and emotionally because that is what we teachers do. But we need families to join us with equal urgency.
A child who reads confidently gains far more than academic success. Literacy impacts self-esteem, communication, career readiness and long-term opportunity. Students who struggle to read often struggle silently in other areas too, which leads to avoiding participation, withdrawing socially or believing they are incapable.
No high school principal wants to look at a teenager and wonder whether the system waited too long to intervene. The good news is that this challenge is solvable if we address it together and early enough.
Read with your children. Encourage them to read independently. Talk with them about what they are learning. Celebrate curiosity. Partner with teachers. Protect time for literacy at home.
Those small daily decisions may seem simple now, but years later, they can determine whether a student enters high school prepared to thrive or struggling to catch up. And every child deserves the chance to thrive.
Katie Gomersall is the middle and high school administrator at Carolus Online Academy in Columbia.