I remember my first parent-teacher conference, when a frustrated parent said to me, “how are you going to help my son read better; and don’t tell me something about finding the main idea because that doesn’t work.” I taught 11th and 12th grade at the time. And the only thing I did have to offer was “comprehension strategies,” which are really no help at all. But what do you do as a teacher when you don’t have any better training, especially in the later grades? The reason teachers persist in bad practice isn’t because they’re uncaring or stupid but because they’re bereft of any better knowledge. So, we’re left with bad practice and empathy in most cases and nothing else.