Transcript PPT - Scholastic

Summers:
Some are reading, some are not.
Richard L. Allington, Ph.D.
University of Tennessee
Summer reading
setback
Most of the rich/poor achievement gap (80%) stems from
summer reading setback.
Summers really matter…
We will not close the rich/poor reading
achievement gap until were do something
about summer reading activity.

Note on the following graph how small
amounts of annual reading setback
creates a 2.5 year achievement gap by
6th grade.

This even though the gap at K was less
than 6 months!
A - Lower SES students
Summer Reading Loss
B - Higher SES Students
8.0
7.0
Grade Equivalency
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
KS
1F
1S
2F
2S
3F
3S
4F
4S
5F
5S
6F
Source: Cooper, H. Charlton, Valentine, J., Muhlenbruck, L. (2000). & Entwisle, D., Alexander, K., & Olson, L.S. (1997).
6S

Note also on the graph that reading
growth during the school year did not
differ between rich/poor kids.

It is largely a myth that schools serving
poor children are less effective than
schools serving middle-class kids.

It is what happens during the summer
that differs.
Entwisle, Alexander, Olson (2000) follow cohort from K to 5
“The achievement gap across social lines widens over
time for reasons have nothing at all to do with schools.”
Heyns, (1978) found achievement growth similar during the
school year but widening during the summers.
“The single summer activity that is most strongly and
consistently related to summer learning is reading.”
SES matters

It is children from low-income families
who are most likely to experience summer
reading setback.

But also struggling readers from any
family income level.

Actually, any child who doesn’t read over
the summer months.

Almost two-thirds of free-lunch children
own no books of their own (Binkley &
Williams, 1996).

The number of books in a home is a good
predictor of education outcomes. Better
than family SES (Evans, et al, 2010).
Access is critical…
How large is the rich/poor gap?

By 12th grade the gap is 4+ years.

Low-income 12th graders read as well as
middle income 8th graders.

And 50% of low-income have already
dropped out of school by 12th grade!
Average Reading Scores
By Student Eligibility for
Free/Reduced Meals

Students from low-income families
typically lose 2-3 months of reading
development every summer.

Students from middle-income families
gain about 1 month every summer.

Creates an annual 3-4 month gap every
year.

That annual 3-4 month gap means
students from low-income families fall
behind roughly 1 year every 3 years…

By 5th or 6th grade kids from low SES
families have lost 2 years of reading
proficiency during the summer months!

Regardless of the school they attend!
Why does summer setback occur?

Basic reason seems to be a lack of
reading activity.

Poor kids don’t own books, don’t have
library cards.

They rely on schools for books to read.

They rely on schools because they live
where:

There are no bookstores

No books for sale anywhere

Even newspapers hard to find

No Starbucks or Borders
Print poor neighborhoods…
What about public libraries…

Some low-income neighborhoods have
public libraries but these libraries are
more often rated “child unfriendly” than
libraries in other neighborhoods (Neuman,
2009).
One solution

We conducted a 3 year study on the
effects of providing children from lowincome families with self-selected books.

Each child selected 12-15 books every
year.

We gave them these books on the last
day of school.

We provided books for roughly 1,000 lowincome students from 17 Florida
elementary schools

95% of our student were minority
students.

The study began when they were 1st or
2nd graders and continued for three
summers.

Our study simply enhanced the access
poor children had to books.

Books they had selected to read.
Putting books in their hands…
Acess is powerful…

A meta-analysis of studies of book
distribution programs (Lindsey, 2012)
confirms that enhancing access to books
improves reading achievement.

It also improves motivation to read.
Access to Books
What we found out.
Providing children from low-income
families with 12-15 books each summer
produced positive effects on reading
achievement.
Summer books are important…

The size of the effect was as large or
larger than attending summer school!

Increased reading development 40% of
a grade level, or about 1.5 months
increase each summer on average.

Summer books eliminated summer
reading loss and added growth every
year.
Poorest kids benefit the most…

The impact on reading achievement was
twice as large for the poorest students
(FRL) as for the remaining students.

This makes sense to us since the poorest
children seem to be the children least
likely to have access to books during the
summer.
Low cost intervention…

At an annual cost of approximately $50
per student.

So why do so few schools provide children
with books for summer reading?

Why aren’t Title I and special education
funds used to support summer books?
Choice is powerful…

Choice is second only to access to books.

Combined they create a powerful force in
addressing summer reading setback.
Kids have unique interests…

Kids selected books often not available in
schools.

Kid culture and series books were the
most popular books.

But literally all 500 titles were selected by
at least one child.
What children selected to read…




5. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby
(Pilkey, Beard, & Hutchins, 2002)
4. Hangin’ with Hilary Duff (Scholastic
Inc., 2003b)
3. Pop People: Destiny’s Child (Glass,
2001)
2. Pop People: Lil’ Romeo (Morreale,
2003)
1. Hangin’ with Lil’ Romeo (Walsh, 2002)

Many of the top selections were
unavailable in any of the school libraries.

Reminiscent of Worthy’s (1999)“What kids
want to read isn’t in the school library”
paper.
The books selected were varied…
•
Series books and kid culture books were
the most popular choices.

But informational books were also
commonly selected by the children.

Most popular informational titles dealt
with pets and big animals (Crocs, Tigers,
etc.).
One more time…

We hope to replicate the study with lowincome rural students from the Smokey
Mountains region of eastern Tennessee.

We are hoping to enlist parents as
conversational partners with their
children.

Replication because the Coalition for
Evidence-Based Policy rated our study as
“Near Top Tier” evidence.

“Near top tier” because it is a single study
in a single region.

An East Tennessee study could move the
evidence base to “Top Tier” evidence.
Other models for summer books…

Schools around the nation (and in Canada also)
have designed their own summer books
initiatives.

Open the school library during the summers.

Empty the school library and classroom
bookshelves of books every summer.

Give kids 3 books and then provide an exchange
evening two or three times each summer.

Provide a bookmobile to visit neighborhoods.

In northeast Florida, for instance,
Geri Melosh and her staff at the
Children’s Reading Center use a
donated pickup truck to take books to
trailer park communities during the
summer months.

Summer reading loss eliminated!
Children’s Reading Center…
The book truck…
Poor kids need summer books…

Some partnered with community libraries
to provide books to kids.

Some conducted Series Summer Schools
where kids selected series books to read
in summer school.

Others found financial resources in their
communities to fund book distributions.

Lots of folks tell us they would like to give
books to children from low-income
families

BUT they say, “We don’t have money for
that.”
It is not about money…

These same folks have money for workbooks,
progress monitoring tools, test prep,
computers and so on. Money for tools that
have NEVER been documented to be part of a
program of effective instruction or
intervention. NEVER!

The money is available but currently wasted.
We waste more money than the
we need to fund summer books…
Where there is a will…

In other words, where there is a will, they
find a way.

Do children from low-income families in
your community have books to read every
summer?

Books they really want to read?
We can, but will we?

Put books in their hands all summer long.

Help them find books they can read and
books they really want to read.

We can close the rich/poor reading gap
but to do so we have to begin to worry
more about summer reading activity.

Questions?

Concerns?

Ideas?