This strand of learning strategies was specifically developed for students who get stuck at the “fourth-grade hump” in reading. That is, they are able to decode and understand materials written at or around the fourth-grade level, but they do not gain additional reading skills after that without additional specialized instruction. Such additional specialized instruction can be provided by using the instructional programs in this strand. Research has shown that students who master the strategies in this strand can make average gains of three to four grade levels in reading in relatively short periods of time. For example, ninth-grade students who were reading at the fifth-grade level, on average, were able to decode words at the ninth-grade level after learning the Word Identification Strategy after six to eight weeks of instruction. These kinds of gains have been achieved when students were taught the strategies in small groups of four to eight students and received daily instruction including individual practice and feedback. Such gains may not be achieved if students are taught the strategies in large groups or if they do not receive individual feedback.