Students are recommended for placement in this course based on multiple criteria which include results from prior Standards of Learning assessments, Lexile levels, or results from the MAP assessment. Students receive instruction in five key areas: phonological awareness and decoding, reading fluency and word recognition, vocabulary and phrase meanings, reading comprehension, and writing in response to text. The majority of the reading selections will be non-fiction to build student success in reading content-area textbooks. Independent reading will be incorporated into the class to build fluency, expand vocabulary, provide practice and increase the enjoyment of reading. Students are expected to stay in this course for the entire year unless results from mid-year assessments indicate that the student is ready to exit the program.