Is Grade 3 reading proficiency the definitive gate we think it is? Are students鈥� literacy realities set even earlier, or can they be changed? How effective are interventions? Let鈥檚 explore recent studies of how students are performing, how they grow (or fail to grow) across the school years, which students are struggling the most, when reading interventions have the greatest chance of success, and how often we really impact student performance in life-changing ways.