KEY FINDINGS
> > “Self-selected independent reading involves a set of strategies that are learned. Development of these strategies should be one of the primary goals of a reading/ language arts program. However, the skills of self-selected reading do not develop by simply offering students the books of a library and asking them to pick books. … Typically, students who read avidly—especially young students— have been taught how to select books that interest them” (Hiebert, 2014). > > According to a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts study: • Nearly half of all 18- to 24-year-olds read no books for pleasure. • Fewer than one-third of 13-year-olds read daily. • Teens and young adults spend 60 percent less time on voluntary reading than the average. > > “For virtually all children, the amount of time spent reading in classrooms consistently accelerates their growth in reading skills” (Anderson, Wilson and Fielding, 1988). > > Barry Gilmore (2011) acknowledges that there are many competing interests for students’ time these days—television, the internet, social media, and so forth. But he also maintains that educators “play an enormous role in developing attitudes toward reading.” He suggests that we’ve unintentionally hurt our secondary students by: 1) adhering to the canon of Western literature; and 2) failing to spark our students’ interest through choice. > > The Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report, Fifth Edition, confirms what we’ve long known: independent reading, both at school and at home, builds successful readers. What’s more, the research shows that giving our students a say in what they read is key. > > The report adds to the abundant data we’ve had for years that demonstrates that in-school independent reading built around time to read books for fun creates kids who love to read. Seventy-eight percent of children ages 12-17 who are frequent readers, defined by the report as kids who read books for fun five to seven times a week, reported that they have the opportunity to read a book of choice independently during the school day. Only 24% of infrequent readers— those reading for fun less than one day a week—say the same. In addition, 91% of children ages 6-17 agree that “my favorite books are the ones that I have picked out myself.” We might deduce that independent reading programs that invite reading choice and promote reading pleasure give rise to kids who not only read, but more importantly, want to read.
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CHAPTER 3: EQUITY
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