"I Skim and Find the Answers"

The authors present findings from a data‐driven account in which they followed ten fifth‐grade students receiving intervention in reading through Georgia's test‐based grade retention policy. Under the policy, the students had little confidence in themselves as readers and felt that reading test passages was unnecessary and difficult. Consequently, they read questions and skimmed passages for key words to find answers, with little success, thus reproducing their difficulties with reading. The authors suggest that teachers address students’ use of the search and destroy method of reading by learning how their students are actually reading, engaging students in discussions about what it means to read for a variety of purposes, and helping students understand when search and destroy is effective and when it is not. Through these recommendations the authors hope to offer reluctant readers an avenue to reconsider what it means to read and how one approaches texts.