It's a product of poverty and having a ton of ENL students (English as a new language). My big initiative this year is independent reading. Took all my classes to the library and the kids were actually pumped to pick out books to read. Even kids that I thought would be resistant we excited to pick out books to read. Definitely a challenge, but by the end of the year kids reading at a 3rd/4th grade level are reading at a 6th/7th grade level, writing well, and for the most part, moving onto 10th grade ELA.