Learning to Read in Our Nation's Schools

📖 The Scoop

To assess the reading achievement of American school children, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) surveyed nationally representative samples of approximately 13,000 students at grades 4, 8, and 12 attending public and private schools across the nation. Students read a variety of literary and informative passages and then answered a series of multiple-choice and open-ended questions designed to measure their ability to read and comprehend these passages. In addition, students provided background information about their reading experiences both in and out of school. To supplement this information, the teachers of fourth graders participating in the assessment completed a questionnaire about the instruction their students received. Findings indicated that: (1) the average reading proficiency of students increased substantially from grades 4 to 8 and less dramatically from grades 8 to 12; (2) at all three grade levels, there were great differences in reading proficiency according to socioeconomic status; (3) more proficient readers reported home and school environments that emphasized academic achievement; (4) students reported doing very little reading in school and for homework; (5) students' interest in books seems to decrease as they progress through school; (6) emphasis on beginning reading instruction in grades 1, 2, and 3 is overwhelmingly phonics-based; (7) instruction for most fourth graders is based on a single basal reader; and (8) reasoning activities are not emphasized in class. (Extensive tables of data are included; a procedural appendix and an appendix of data are attached.) (NKA)

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