Student Reading Progress: Time to Hit the Panic Button?

The 2019 National Assessment of Education Progress (2019) recently released their findings for this year’s testing. The progress report comes from the test results of 600,000 fourth and eighth-graders from public and Catholic schools throughout the United States. The students are tested on two subjects, math and reading, and it is widely considered the most accurate measurement of how our nation is doing in terms of education. 

The findings were dismal. Reading scores have dropped in 17 states for fourth-graders and in 31 states for eighth-graders. The achievement gap between the highest scorers and the lowest scorers continues to widen, with students from low-income families, students with disabilities, and students of color continuing to score below average. 

It appears that these results have indeed sounded alarm bells at least in the eyes of several education and civil rights organizations. They recognize that a decrease in the literacy of our country will not only negatively affect our economy, but our democracy as well. They are pledging to help states and districts better understand the science of reading, institute high-quality curriculum materials, better prepare educators to teach literacy, and increase the federal investment in literacy programs. 

I think it’s important to note that one state actually saw a significant increase in their reading test scores. They also have an interesting method that they believe is accounting for their high literacy levels. That state is Mississippi. And what they do is push their third-graders to read at or above grade level with the consequence of being held back from fourth grade. That’s right. The Literacy Based Promotion Act mandates that third-graders obtain a certain reading score before advancing to the next grade. Whether you agree with the method or not, their test scores seem to speak for themselves. But is this really the best option we have?

Experts say that we’re pushing to correct these low reading scores by implementing longer and more complex manuals for teachers to wade through, increasing the use of boring and ineffective worksheets, and having teachers focus on “teaching to the test”. Worst of all, we ignore the reading tastes of what elementary and middle school students actually want to read, especially the reading tastes of boys who happen to consistently score lower than girls. It has been shown that students who read for their own pleasure improve their reading skills and their test scores at a much faster rate than those who do not. In fact, when students read for fun and truly enjoy what they’re reading their emotional memory, which is the most powerful and enduring memory, is tapped. In other words, when students are deeply interested in what they’re reading, they use more of their natural brain power to learn and remember and their reading improves rapidly. 

In conclusion, one of the most effective and simple ways to cure the problem of low reading scores is to encourage reading for pleasure and allowing students to have a say in the reading material. Some additional practices that have been shown to facilitate reading in a 2004 study by Reutzel and Smith include: supplementing reading lessons with dialogue and discussion, presenting increasingly difficult stories, and providing a print-rich classroom. The good news is the education and civil rights organizations previously mentioned already know this and are actively trying to implement these practices throughout schools nationwide. What we can all do ourselves is understand these issues in education, be aware of possible solutions to the problem, and play whatever role we can in establishing more effective curriculum and teaching methods in the classroom.