How do you help students who are struggling with reading?

Help them identify books that are within their independent reading level. If kids are reading texts that are above their independent reading level, they're going to be struggling through them, and they're going to hate reading, and they're not going to want to read. It is also very important is talking to kids about their interests, the kinds of books they like to read, help them find books that they'd be really interested in. Then, phonics certainly works, and it can be particularly useful for struggling readers and kids with dyslexia who tend to need a lot more time than other kids. With phonics you help them build associations between letters and sounds, and if they get a lot of that help early on, it can be a big difference maker. It does a lot of damage to a kids' learning trajectory if they have dyslexia and they don't get all that reading support early on.