This is part two of my conversation with Joe Lockavitch in which Joe shares his insights on helping students read and his general passion for education. If you have not heard part one, I recommend navigating to the previous episode. Like most everything in the education sector, Joe’s Failure Free Reading Program has proponents and detractors. Proponents say that they have seen students progress rapidly using the Failure Free Reading Program. Detractors point to a lack of empirical evidence for its effectiveness (according to the What Works Clearinghouse, the single rigorous evaluation of Failure Free Reading found moderate positive effects on comprehension), and they say that it is not easy to integrate into existing curricula. Regarding the latter, I imagine Joe thinks that is part of the point because he is fond of stating that, the “real enemy” of students with chronic reading challenges is the existing instructional approach. More information about Joe and his Failure Free Reading Program is at talkingaboutkids.com.