Background on the Science of Reading

Why kids aren’t being taught to read

Emily Hanford, a journalist, conducted extensive research starting in 2015 about the crisis in reading skills by the fourth grade. The article discusses the ramifications for those children who are not reading at grade level by the end of the third grade. A quote from this research is as follows:

“People who struggle with reading are more likely to drop out of high school, end up in the criminal justice system, and to live in poverty. But as a nation, we’ve come to accept a high percentage of kids not reading well. More than 60 percent of American fourth-graders are not proficient readers, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and it’s been that way since testing began in the 1990s.”

The Science of Reading: Hard Words: Why American kids aren’t being taught to read

At a Loss for Words:

Emily Hanford, an Award-winning journalist, published a follow-up article about the growing research in cognitive skills for reading. A quote from this research is as follows:

“For decades, reading instruction in American schools has been rooted in a flawed theory about how reading works, a theory that was debunked decades ago by cognitive scientists, yet remains deeply embedded in teaching practices and curriculum materials. As a result, the strategies that struggling readers use to get by — memorizing words, using context to guess words, skipping words they don’t know — are the strategies that many beginning readers are taught in school. This makes it harder for many kids to learn how to read, and children who don’t get off to a good start in reading find it difficult to ever master the process.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2019/08/22/whats-wrong-how-schools-teach-reading

National Association for Educational Progress (NAEP):

Abbreviated Reading Level Definitions used in the Nation’s Report Card.

Below NAEP Basic – 34%

Currently, there is no definition of the reading skills or comprehension when a fourth-grade student’s test results are at “Below NAEP Basic“.

NAEP Basic – 31%

Fourth-grade students performing at the NAEP Basic level should be able to locate relevant information, make simple inferences, and use their understanding of the text to identify details that support a given interpretation or conclusion. Students should be able to interpret the meaning of a word as it is used in the text.

When reading informational texts such as articles and excerpts from books, fourth-grade students performing at the NAEP Basic level should be able to identify the main purpose and an explicitly stated main idea, as well as gather information from various parts of a text to provide supporting information.

NAEP Proficient – 26%

Fourth-grade students performing at the NAEP Proficient level should be able to integrate and interpret texts and apply their understanding of the text to draw conclusions and make evaluations.

When reading literary texts such as fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction, fourth-grade students performing at the NAEP Proficient level should be able to identify implicit main ideas and recognize relevant information that supports them. Students should be able to judge elements of author’s craft and provide some support for their judgment. They should be able to analyze character roles, actions, feelings, and motives.

NAEP Advanced – 9%

Fourth-grade students performing at the NAEP Advanced level should be able to make complex inferences and construct and support their inferential understanding of the text. Students should be able to apply their understanding of a text to make and support a judgment.