8/7/2019 Research Report - To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence

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Research Report: To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence

I. Notable Facts

Americans are spending less time reading.

Reading comprehension skills are eroding.

Nearly half of all Americans ages 1824 read no books for pleasure.

Less than 1/3 of 13year olds are daily readers.

The percentage of 17yearolds who read nothing at all for pleasure has

doubled over a 20year period. Yet the amount they read for school or

homework (15 or fewer pages daily for 62% of students) has stayed the

same.

Voluntary reading rates diminish from childhood to late adolescence.

College attendance no longer guarantees active reading habits.

Teens and young adults spend less time reading than people or other age

groups.

By contrast, 15 to 24yearolds spend 2 to 2 hours per day watching TV.

This activity consumes the most leisure time for men and women of all ages.

Literary reading declined significantly in a period of rising Internet use. From

19972003, home Internet use soared 53 percentage points among 18 24

yearolds. By another estimate, the percentage of 18 24yearolds with a

home broadband connection climbed 25 points from 2005 to 2007.

Even when reading does occur, it competes with other media. This multi

tasking suggests less focused engagement with a text.

Little more than onethird of high school seniors now read proficiently.

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Reading for pleasure correlates strongly with academic achievement.

Employers now rank reading and writing as top deficiencies in new hires.

Less advanced readers report fewer opportunities for career growth.

Good readers play a crucial role in enriching our cultural and civic life.

Good readers make good citizens.

Literary readers are more than twice as likely as nonreaders to volunteer or

do charity work.

Deficient readers are far more likely than skilled readers to be high school

dropouts and out of the workforce.

Poor reading skills are endemic in the prison population.

Future research also could explore factors such as income, ethnicity, region,

and race, and how they might alter the relationship between voluntary

reading, reading test scores, and other outcomes. (p. 21).

II. Analysis & Opinion

All of these facts put forth by the National Endowment for the Arts tell many

things about the need for our nations attention to be drawn to literacy. This article

speaks of the ability for citizens to read and write, and characterizes literacy by the

amount that people read and also by the amount of time that people read

voluntarily or for pleasure. The data is broken up by age groups, speaking of

teenagers, young adults, and adults. It seems as if reading is declining in the younger

populations. Some factors that may be affecting this decline in reading for pleasure

include television, the Internet, socioeconomic factors, and a decrease in leisure

time due to a societal tendency to always be on the move. The article also discusses

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the implications of this decline in reading and in reading skills, suggesting that

deficient readers are less likely to advance in their careers and are also lower

achieving in academics. Knowing these facts and outcomes, there are many things

that teachers of all content areas must keep in mind in terms of literacy.

Realizing that learners come in all shapes and sizes in terms of literacy is the

first step in being sensitive to the literary needs or our students. As a future ELA

teacher, I will be cognizant of the fact that less and less of my students will read for

pleasure. Even now, I know that I cannot read for pleasure as a college student due

to my workload. I can see that this is affecting my overall reading skills and it is also

frustrating to not be able to read for pleasure when it is one of my hobbies.