Two-thirds of students who scored at least 85% on our “Show What You Know” assessments of Zinc-ing and Tracking skills went up at least one Zinc reading level from the start of the Ignition Unit to the end. In just a few hours of work over two or three weeks, that’s growth of about 150 Lexiles, which typically takes months!

Filament is a place for teen writers and artists to connect and get their voices heard. The journal promotes literacy by sharing exceptional student writing on the topics you want to read about, from the voices you want to hear. Issues also feature outstanding visual art by teens.

Happy International Women’s Day! And please join us in celebrating Women’s History Month. To support your teaching about women’s rights, accomplishment, and voices, we’ve compiled a new article set.

Middle and high school readers can be a tough crowd. And since many students in this age group say that they “hate” reading, choosing the right content for them is even more crucial.

Despite our great love of books, we don’t think they’re always the best assignment for middle and high school students. Sometimes, articles are a much better choice.

Drumroll, please! We’re thrilled to share the winning submissions from Zinc’s first Teen Writing Contest.

There’s a better way to grow kids’ vocabularies. To understand it, let’s look at what the brain science says about the vocabulary acquisition process.

How often do we find ourselves running on what should be solid ground only to discover that our students are running in deep, slippery mud? What they “read” may ground them in something, but it certainly isn’t the text you felt inspired to share.

One or more of these three common obstacles on standardized reading tests probably explain why seemingly strong English students underperform.

The key to improving adolescent literacy is to get students to enjoy reading. A constant annotation practice can work against that goal.

We’re excited to now offer article sets to complement the EngageNY curriculum.

We’re not alone in our appreciation of the written word. Authors, icons and politicians alike praise the power of texts to transform their minds and lives.

Read Zinc’s founder/CEO, Matt Bardin’s op-ed, “We Can’t Become a Nation of Equal Learners Until We Become a Nation of Readers,” in The Hechinger Report, a national nonprofit newsroom.

Check out Zinc’s founder/CEO, Matt Bardin, talking about reading’s role in school success and how to address students’ literacy gaps in this episode of the Educators Lead podcast with Jay Willis.

We designed Zinc Reading Labs using insight from our years of experience as educators and leading academics’ research on adolescent literacy. It’s an honor to have Digital Promise recognize these efforts as part of their 2016 Research-Based Products Campaign.