For decades, minority students have been falling behind non-minority students, and schools have been striving to bridge this gap. It has, indeed, been challenging for middle and high schools, especially when striving to increase reading achievement: Since most middle and high school teachers are non-English teachers, they lack reading instruction preparation, thus, fall short when attempting to help struggling readers. Unfortunately, if these schools continue to fall short, the students and even our nation will be affected. Therefore, this article describes strategies that successful middle and high schools have implemented such as Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) and trade books to break through the tough reading barriers that once prevented student achievement.