In the San Fernando Valley North, it seems to be very common to be teaching Elementary level content to high school students. The reading level is typically below-average, very often below the fourth grade level. Because of this, much of the instruction is a bit light in the reading Department, and when there is heavy reading, especially something with a great deal of academic vocabulary, students struggle, and it's necessary to teach basic reading skills, again. There's a common sentiment that we stopped teaching reading in the fourth grade, and so often times that's where students reading skill level stops. This goes along with the idea of learning to read, versus reading to learn. If you can't read, it's difficult to learn through Reading. No easy answers here. One day at a time