In one of the most extensive studies of independent reading yet conducted, Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding (1988) traced reading growth to an array of activities related to independent reading. They found that the amount of time students spent in independent reading was the best predictor of reading achievement and also the best predictor of the amount of gain in reading achievement made by students between second and fifth grade. Miller and Moss (2013) explain the key finding: students who read independently an hour a day scored at the 98th percentile on standardized tests, while students who read only 4.6 minutes daily scored at the 50th percentile, and students who did no out-of-school reading scored at the second percentile.
Variation in Amount of Independent Reading (Readers and Words per Year)
Percentile For Amount of Reading
Minutes of Reading per Day
Words Read per Year
98
67
4,733,000
90
33
2,357,000
80
25
1,697,000
70
17
1,168,000
60
13
722,000
50
9
601,000
40
6
421,000
30
4
251,000
20
2
134,000
10
1
51,000
2
0
8,000
48
CHAPTER 2: READING
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