Meeting Students Where They Are

Sarah works with a diverse group of learners: English learners transitioning out of specialized services, students graduating from special education reading support, and adolescents who've struggled with reading for reasons that don't fit neatly into any one category. For these students, finding age-appropriate materials that don't feel remedial is critical.

Series 4 delivers on that promise through carefully selected novels that tackle mature themes without talking down to teenagers. In Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, Sarah's students, half Spanish-dominant ELs and half native monolingual English speakers, found a story that reflected all of their experiences and provided bilingual students the opportunity to shine.

"They really liked it," Sarah says. "The Spanish-speaking students felt like, 'We could be beneficial to our classmates.' It spoke to them."

When Reluctant Readers Take the Lead

Perhaps the most telling sign of STARI’s Series 4 impact came from a student who would never admit he liked the book, but became the class's unofficial accountability partner.

"He's the first person to always say, 'Come on, why aren't you paying attention? Look, it's in the book. You know what we do every day,'" Sarah explains. "For someone who's really a struggling reader to feel empowered by something, it's pretty cool."

This student, who Sarah taught as a freshman the previous year, transformed from disengaged to a classroom leader. Something clicked and whether it was natural maturity or the power of an age-appropriate book that spoke to his experience as a Student of Color in a district that serves predominantly white students and families, his engagement shifted.

Beyond Engagement: Measurable Growth

While student enthusiasm matters, Sarah also tracks concrete progress. Using AIMSweb benchmarking, she's documented consistent gains in reading fluency and stamina across both Series 3 and Series 4.

"They've all improved in their fluency," she notes. "I've seen huge growth in their reading stamina overall."

The structured fluency practice, leveled and connected directly to the novels, has been particularly valuable for students with IEPs who need systematic support.

What Makes Series 4 Work for High Schoolers

For Sarah, several elements set Series 4 apart:

• Mature, relevant content. The books tackle real issues teenagers face, bullying, identity, cultural adjustment, without being preachy or simplistic.

• Built-in accessibility. The program includes everything a teacher needs, making it possible for any language-based educator to pick it up, even without specialized literacy training.

• Settings students can relate to. While earlier STARI units featured urban environments that felt distant to Sarah's students, Series 4 shifts this with books like Fifteen and Change: "First of all, they thought it was cool that somebody was from Wisconsin," Sarah says. 

Advice for Teachers Considering Series 4

To teachers who haven't tried STARI before, Sarah's message is simple: "Series 4 is definitely very, very good for high school level. As long as you have a dedicated course for that intervention, it's pretty ideal."

And to those hesitant about using adolescent novels with mature themes? "It's not what students don't see on a regular basis anyway. It's really difficult for high school to find things that struggling readers will be interested in. When you find something that students are interested in, you have to grab it."

Sarah Bleicher teaches intervention reading at Waunakee High School in Wisconsin. She's been using STARI with her students for three years and currently implements Series 4 with sophomores. For the full interview with Sarah, listen to Episode 5 of SERP Stories.