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Purpose – This chapter shares a model of responsive teacher preparation in literacy labs/reading clinics that emphasizes student-centered instruction.

Approach – Through vignettes and the voices of teachers enrolled in literacy lab/reading clinics, the authors highlight clinical practices effective in helping teachers focus on learners including building relationships, learning from students, structuring opportunities for student success, and understanding the power of language choices.

Practical implications – Teacher educators can use practices presented in this chapter in their clinical instruction. In turn, their teachers can transfer these clinical practices and foundations to school settings.

Originality/value – This approach to teacher education creates a culture of collaboration and responsive teaching that moves beyond clinical settings to classrooms and schools.

Purpose – This historical perspective highlights the evolution of reading clinics (also called literacy labs, centers, etc.) from medical-type clinics to instructional powerhouses for struggling readers. Of particular interest, also, is the development of teacher expertise while participating in reading clinics, particularly in the areas of reflection, a critical view of assessments, and using assessment to inform instruction. Furthermore, this chapter traces the history of research that has come out of reading clinics.

Design/Methodology/Approach – A brief history of reading clinics since the 1920s is followed by a deep examination of some of the themes that have shaped more recent reading clinics and research that has emerged from the clinics: assessment, mandates, teacher reflection, and twenty-first Century Literacies.

Practical implications – This chapter offers key information for stakeholders who are designing, establishing, or refining a reading clinic, either university-based or K-12 school-based.

Social implications – Struggling readers and writers deserve and need experiences that help them acquire literacy skills, including reading and writing for twenty-first century purposes. Teachers need support as they navigate mandates from educational policy-makers, enhance their skills as literacy leaders and literacy coaches, and reflect on best practices.