Given that teacher perception influences teaching practice and eventually student learning, the knowledge pre-service teachers are taught in teacher-prep programs is meaningful. This paper explored how learners with reading difficulties are represented in secondary English Language Arts (ELA) methods course textbooks in the U.S. with qualitative content analysis. With experts’ recommendations and searching, total of sixteen textbooks were included in the analysis. Results indicated that, with few exceptions, most textbooks described learners with reading difficulties with deficit view, attributing reading difficulties to learners. Result also showed the criteria for grouping learners with reading difficulties were not clearly provided in the textbooks. Teaching reading has become increasingly more difficult considering their omnipresent dynamics in the classroom, and current pre-service ELA teacher education textbooks were not sufficient enough to address the diversity to pre-service teachers who would face the dynamics in their classrooms soon. Other findings and implications from the analysis are discussed in terms of possible influence on secondary ELA education and ELA teacher education as well as a call for future research on secondary ELA teacher education.