New Research: A Reading Program that Works

The Theory:  If students read at least 15 minutes per day and their reading selections are:  high interest, high quality, and at(or slightly) above their tested reading ability, then students will demonstrate higher than expected reading growth.  By recommending books that meet these three criteria, students will develop a passion for reading.  Their reading comprehension ability will develop naturally without the need for structured reading comprehension lessons.  

The Results:  All of my students in grades 4+ are fully literate.  These students are reading at a higher level than the average 11th/12th grade student.  Students who actively participated in the reading program surpassed the predicted growth metric by an average of 6.7 points.  Students who did not actively participate in the reading program fell 1.2 points shy of the predicted growth metric.  To put this into perspective, students average about 5 points of growth per year on this assessment.

Read More