More to Know: “The More the More, the Less the Less” Susan Neuman and Donna Celano’s (2001) seminal study of four Philadelphia neighborhoods—two middle-class and two low-income—reveals the stark reality of lack of access of books for children in low-income homes and communities. The ratio of books to children in middle-income neighborhoods was 13 books to one child, while in low-income neighborhoods the ratio was one book to 300 children (2001, 2006). Alarmingly, more than a decade later, little has changed; indeed, technology—once hoped to bridge the gap—has made the disparity even worse (Neuman and Celano, 2012). Middle-class parents typically have access to computers in their homes and can navigate technology in ways that benefit their children’s developing literacy; on the other hand, poor families without access to computers in the home are less likely to know how to use the technology available in public libraries to help their children access print and learn to read. This becomes yet another way in which children with less continue in a downward literacy spiral, while the children with the benefits of a higher income spiral up. In their 10 year study of access to books, Neuman and Celeno (2012) saw a pattern they called “the more the more, the less the less.” In other words, students who had abundant access to books and “were able to read fluently, reading more and acquiring more information,” while students without easy access to books “seemed to develop avoidance strategies, merely tolerating reading without the cognitive involvement associated with reading for comprehension.” Given the learning power of reading—what it does to develop the mind—this has devastating consequences: Reading has cognitive consequences that extend beyond the immediate task of understanding particular texts. Studies have shown that avid readers—regardless of general ability—tend to know more than those who read little. Further, those who know more are likely to learn more, and to do so faster; in other words, knowledge begets more knowledge. This is a stunning finding because it means that children who get off to a fast start in reading are more likely to read more over the years—and this very act of reading develops vocabulary, general knowledge, and information capital. Consequently, children’s earliest experiences with print will establish a trajectory of learning that is reciprocal and exponential in nature—spiraling either upward or downward, carrying profound implications for the development of information capital. Jonathan Kozol (2005) has called the educational divide between those who have and those who don’t “the shame of the nation.” Although solving the complex barriers of poverty is largely beyond our means as educators and parents, we can do much to solve the book gap—and therefore, the achievement gap—by making sure that all children have access to books.
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ACCESS TO BOOKS
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