Eighth- or ninth-grade students may enter with the reading level of the average second- or third-grade student. In addition, most of the students arrive with well-developed phobias about reading and writing and, because of their back of academic success, considerable resistance to instruction and well-developed skills for avoiding instruction of any sort. In several exploratory studies, about half the students considerable progress in a single semester, moving, for example, to the level of the average fifth-grade student. The other half responded equally well during the second semester (Showers, Joyce, Scalon, and Schnaubelt, 1998). Thus, enrollment should be for an initial year with exit provided when adequate competence has been achieved. A rule of thumb is the level of the average student at the end of grade six. At that point, most appear to be able to handle middle and school learning resources. provided that they apply themselves.