Important Reading Test Questions
Reading achievement scores for individual students, schools and school districts are published as the “Nation’s Report Card” after National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test results are meticulously analyzed. Results allow for year-to-year and school-to-school comparisons, and guide decisions that aim to improve students’ academic success.
Answers to two questions regarding out-of-school issues don’t receive much fanfare, but we think they’re very important.
Two simple questions
The first of those two questions asks, “How many books do you have in your home?,” offering children choices of “0 to 10 books in the home,” “11 to 25 books in the home,” “26 to 100 books in the home,” and ”more than 100 books in the home.” This question is designed to capture the relative availability of books in children’s lives outside of school.
The second question asks, “How often do you choose to read for fun?” The options children are offered include: “Never or hardly ever,” “About once or twice a month,” “About once or twice a week,” or “Every day or almost every day.” This question is intended to shine light on the personal reading habits of the kids.
Powerful answers
These two questions provide powerful insights about how ready access to self-selected books and the frequency of personal reading outside of the classroom impact literacy growth.
Children who report having the most books in their homes–more than 100–along with those who choose to read for fun every day or almost every day score higher on reading measures than their peers who have fewer books in their homes and don’t choose to read. The number of books in a home and the frequency that children choose to read are strongly related to annual literacy growth.
This holds true even for students identified as having common “risk factors,” such as modest parental educational attainment, identification as a racial or ethnic minority, or coming from a family with a low income.
Solid solution
When we look at all the students in the U.S. who have 100 or more books and have a daily habit of reading, we find a group of students who are closing the achievement gap and scoring proficient or above on reading assessments.
Let’s build on the wisdom revealed by the answers to the two simple NAEP questions. Let’s get books in the hands of our children that they can read and want to read, and when they finish those books, let’s help them find more.
Let’s Grow Readers by helping to supply them with books and encourage them to read every day.