Boys Town cares for boys and girls (average age 15 years) who are socially and emotionally at risk because of problems such as chronic neglect or abuse, broken homes, and school failure. The majority are behaviorally disordered and emotionally impaired. Within a week of coming to Boys Town, students take the Diagnostic Assessments of Reading Test. Results show that 35% are below grade level in oral reading, and the majority are below grade level in word recognition, silent reading comprehension, and knowledge of word meanings. The Boys Town Reading Curriculum extends the principles of one-to-one tutoring to group instruction and consists of four courses, each a semester long. The curriculum is designed for older adolescents at various levels of reading development. Factors responsible for the curriculum's success include: students are placed in courses appropriate to their reading needs; the courses are highly structured; the curriculum makes sense and provides them with hope; and students' success is defined as much by how much they learn as by how well they perform. (Contains 24 references and 3 tables of data. A 29-item list of novels used in 2 classes is attached.) (RS)