Read Aloud WV

Research

4th graders who read for fun score higher, NAEP finds

November 2011 -- Fourth graders who reported reading for fun almost every day scored higher on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress than students who read for pleasure less frequently.

Students who rarely or never read for fun scored lowest, as shown on this chart from the NAEP report. (See page 19.)

Parents, teachers, Read Aloud volunteers and anyone else who has an opportunity to observe children has seen this phenomenon at work. Young people who read for pleasure acquire new vocabulary words, learn new ideas and follow their own curiosity to discover new knowledge, often without even realizing it.

Students who read for fun also practice and hone the actual skill of reading the way a professional athlete hones a precise move or shot. The result is that when young people do encounter a diffficult text, whether it is on a test, in a class, on a job or in life, they are much better prepared to understand and cope with the situation, at any age.

Reading for fun has nothing to do with quizzes or reports. Assessments and graded activities may be suitable for specific classroom lessons, but reading for pleasure is free of such requirements. To read for fun, children need access to interesting writing, time and space to relax with their chosen books or other materials, and a good example set by adults in their lives. And they must get to choose to read what interests them, whether that is comic books, science, manga, poetry, mysteries, sports, thrillers, romance or something else.