Normalizing the Productive Struggle: Reframing Reading Development in Postsecondary Contexts

ABSTRACT In this manuscript, the authors contend that today's concerns about declining college reading skills reveal a longstanding need to reframe and valorize the “productive struggle” inherent in postsecondary academic reading development. Drawing on historical and contemporary evidence—including the persistent need of college‐level reading supports and the impacts of recent policy shifts and AI anxieties—the authors problematize deficit‐based narratives in media and policy. By unpacking “productive struggle” within a theory‐driven framework and offering practical recommendations, the manuscript invites educators to meet students with purposeful challenge and support.