Reading’s next chapter

Toni-Rae, or T-Rex, is a 13-year-old student in Southern California. Her favorite subject is science, and she enjoys making jewelry and listening to Taylor Swift. Her nickname comes from how she stomped around as a child, much like a dinosaur. Like many students, she struggled with reading and fell behind during the pandemic. Her father, Ricardo—an educator familiar with Reading Coach—introduced her to the program, hoping to make reading more engaging. What started as simple practice soon became a source of confidence and creativity, especially when she could craft her own stories, often featuring unicorns. Today, she’s proud of her progress and continues to grow as a reader, proving that learning can be both fun and empowering with the right support.

When Ricardo arrived in the U.S. from El Salvador, he didn’t understand a word of English. On his first day of school, he was handed a placement test—entirely in English. Confused and unable to respond, he was placed in remedial classes, leaving him feeling lost and overlooked. “Reading felt like a locked door that I didn’t have the key for,” Ricardo recalled.

Everything changed when one teacher saw his potential. Jaime Escalante—the legendary educator behind the movie Stand and Deliver—gave Ricardo a math test in Spanish. For the first time, he saw what he was capable of. “All of a sudden, I was in Algebra 2, then trigonometry, then calculus,” he said. “I felt like someone cared for me.” In that moment, Ricardo realized something powerful: his intelligence wasn’t the problem—the system was.

That realization shaped his future. Over the last 26 years, he has dedicated himself to helping students overcome the same challenges he once faced—first as a Spanish teacher for 20 years and now as a technology coach supporting teachers and students across his district.

With Reading Coach, his students—many ESL learners—can read at their own pace, build confidence, and practice in a safe space. The tool removes fear and frustration, replacing it with engagement and growth.

One student who once hated reading returned from break, excited to share his progress. “I think I’ve used every character and every setting in Reading Coach!” he told Ricardo.

It’s not just his students who have experienced the impact. Ricardo’s daughter, Toni-Rae (T-Rex), once struggled with reading, but that changed with Reading Coach. “I’ll never forget when she smiled and said, ‘I did it, Daddy,’” he said. “Those moments give you goosebumps.”

For Ricardo, education goes beyond teaching literacy—it’s about building confidence, fostering inclusion, and making sure every child feels seen and supported.

It started with Olivier working with students in small groups doing interactive reading exercises. Then, Olivier’s school, Omnimundo began collaborating with Microsoft to integrate Immersive Reader into OneNote. That was his first glimpse of students engaging with a new world of reading exercises, fully supported in their native languages. “And at that moment, I saw that the children, my students, were becoming owners of the text,” Olivier says.

As Reading Coach became part of their program, Olivier immediately saw results. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. With an increasingly diverse student population, he needed flexible tools that could quickly adapt to their learning needs.

For example, one student joined his class with no experience speaking Dutch. With Reading Coach, she started at level one and, at her own pace, learned Dutch words and sounds—allowing her to stay with her classmates instead of falling behind. Eventually, she completed a full chapter of a story. Just days later, that same student had written three stories of her own. “Those are the moments that give you goosebumps,” Olivier says.

And that’s the story for so many of his students. They can all use Reading Coach at the same time, but in a way that’s personalized to their needs. That’s key to keeping their confidence high and ensuring that no student feels singled out. Because every student learns differently—and that’s exactly what Microsoft set out to address with Reading Coach.

Each feature of Reading Coach was designed and tested to seamlessly adapt to diverse learning needs. Focus mode minimizes distractions and keeps students engaged. Page color, font type, and text spacing help reduce cognitive load, making reading easier. After completing a story, students receive a list of words they struggled with for extra practice. These features put students in control of their learning, helping them engage more deeply.

For Olivier, the impact is clear. He can see real-time insights into each student’s progress and identify where extra support is needed. “It’s a perfect collaboration: the human teacher with virtual or artificial technology. Together, we can do great things.”