Does Independent Reading Time During the School Day Create Lifelong Readers

I believe the effectiveness of silent reading depends on your objective. If your goal is to improve fluency and comprehension, then reading is the best way to go. Allowing time set apart each day for students to practice their reading skills will help to build those independent reading skills. I'm a deep believer that a really good book will be the biggest motivator and that children should be allowed to read what they want, regardless of their instructional level- those books should be saved for small group guided reading. My 4th graders love silent reading time! Given enough time to get into their books,and providing a wide variety of books to choose from, they cheer for it! 105/2016

This is indeed a complex issue. As you pointed out, there are many factors to consider if the reading time is worth the time: how teachers use that scheduled reading time, the purpose for reading, and the motivation behind wide reading. I agree there is a facade behind self-selection and simply requiring independent reading does not guarantee reading growth. However, we know that students who read widely are better readers, so one issue to address is, how can we motivate students to want to read? My master's thesis (Ann H. Leon, California State University, Sacramento, 2007) entitled "Increasing Independent Reading in the Intermediate Grades Through a Book Club Approach" taught me that there are methods and teacher moves that will motivate students toward being lifelong readers: 1) teacher-student relationship, 2) kids selecting to read a book with peers - not leveled, but reasonable, 3) regular discussions and making personal connections, and 4) feeling accountable to others who are interested in the same book. The study was conducted with 5th grade students who were capable readers, but did not read enough according to Accelerated Reader points. As a result of the Book Club participation, all students chose to read more (on their own) than they had read all year; where the control group in an Accelerated Reader class continued to not read enough and not care to earn AR points. The book club approach is difficult and time consuming to carry out, but it reminds me again that reading includes discussion and relationships with others. It is not a solitary activity, and it is not automatically worthwhile just because it is in a daily schedule. I appreciate reading about this complex issue, and it will be something that continues to challenge all of us, if we wish to increase our effectiveness. 10/6/2016

Curious to know what your thoughts are on Stephen Krashen's work? His views are quite the opposite of yours. 10/10/2016

I agree with Tim's response to Mary that we need to be careful of focusing so heavily on decoding with struggling readers in the intermediate and middle grades, particularly for culturally and/or linguistically diverse students. Making the language of school - syntax, linguistic genres, vocabulary- explicit is necessary for students to comprehend the complex texts of the CCSS.

http://www.ericksoneducationalconsulting.com/blog/category/introductory-post 10/10/2016

Bridget--

I'm glad you asked. Krashen emphasizes correlational research and I do that. In other words, he pays a lot of attention to studies that show that better readers read more. I don't dispute the finding, but like most scientists I don't accept that correlation proves causation, and I recognize that it while it could be that you become a better reader because you read more, it also could be that you choose to read more because you are a better reader.

When it comes to looking at experimental research on the matter, most scientists reject qualitative analysis that vary their criteria based on the outcome of the studies. In experimental research, the researcher actually tests the claim. Thus, one group would be given DEAR time during the school day and a control group would not. That kind of design does allow one to make causal claims at least if the study is done well. Krashen rejects any study without the "right" findings claiming that the researcher made some kind of mistake, and he accepts studies that come up with the "right" findings even if they have the same problem that was used to set aside other studies. There are ways of analyzing and comparing studies and when these are used (meta-analysis), you get the results that I described.

10/10/16

So do expand with what should be happening because it worked for 20 years in my classrooms, with my own children, and myself as a young reader. And it fit with years of Ed research. Please expand. I'm going to guess its more accountability and assigned reading because that's the patriarchal top down system that is so en vogue today. Count me as one of your former students who has to wonder who you are and what happened to the real dr. Shanahan? I'm guessing it has everything to do with what you think will get you a seat at the reading research table du jour. empowering children as readers and thinkers isn't really popular among the ruling class running Ed policy anymore and can't get research published or speaking gigs if you speak against it. Sad. 10/11/16

Analyzed and compared studies (meta-analysis) regarding sustained silent reading http://skrashen.blogspot.com/2016/10/sustained-silent-reading-effects-are_9.html

10/11/2016

And your tone to the teacher who asked the question was beyond condescending. You have no idea if she is effective or not based on a question. So disappointing. 10/11/16

What are your thoughts on the research done by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher? They advocate choice reading for students and having the majority of your class time with those students dedicated to independent reading.

Neither Penny Kittle or Kelly Gallagher conduct research. Research entails the collection and analysis of data. That's not their thing apparently. 10/11/16

Mr. Shanahan, if you do not consider these authors 'researchers', do you dispute the research cited in Kittle's and Gallagher's books on reading (such as Book Love and Readicide)? 10/11/16

I wanted to give a little anecdote that I think illustrates how sometimes what looks good to us as teachers does not necessarily equate to children learning. A few years back, I was working with a student because she had failed the state standardized test. As a dyslexia therapist, I was pulling her out of class to assess just exactly what her weaknesses were. As I looked at the teacher paperwork, her English teacher had commented how much this child enjoyed reading and that she was currently reading the Harry Potter series. Upon testing her, I quickly ascertained that she was, in fact, unable to read. When I asked the child about her reading habits, she just said she checked out the big books and pretended to read.

My point is that if you walked into her regular classroom, you would have thought the child was very engaged in reading. She liked to sit in the bean bag chair and would even come in during homeroom to "read." On observation, you would think that the SSR they practiced every day for 20 minutes was motivating her to be a stronger reader. If you looked at her list of "read" books, you would think she was a prolific reader.

The actual evidence in her testing showed she needed serious intervention beginning with phonics. 20 minutes spent "reading" silently was a waste of time for this child. 20 minutes a day in a school year is 60 hours of instruction, which is enough time to complete half of a solid, research-based phonics intervention curriculum. Think what a difference that might have made for her.

We can't simply rely on what feels good to us as teachers. Yes, it's a beautiful thing to see a classroom full of kids snuggled up to a good book -- I know that's what we all want. SSR cannot be used as our primary means of reading instruction. Yes, give kids time to read in class but not in place of good, sound instruction. 10/12/16

Elizabeth--
It is not just I who don't consider Kittle or Gallagher to be researcher... they themselves make no such claims. I have conducted a quick scan of the scientific literature and can find NO research on Book Love or Readicide, so not sure what studies they (or you) might be alluding to.

Something that should help you to understand this: just because somebody writes/publishes does not mean that they are part of the scientific community or that they conduct empirical research. In this case, these two individuals--at least in their on-line information--are careful not to pretend that they are researchers. Their writing states their opinions and those opinions are more likely the result of personal experience or second-hand knowledge of research. Quite often, when someone cites another publication teachers assume the citation is to research, when it is often just to another opinion of someone else. That is not what I mean by research, it is not what the National Academies mean by research, it is not what IES and NICHD and the Department of Education mean by research. 10/12/16

Wonderful Words--

Thanks for this insightful story. The late Steve Stahl used to write about the same thing he was seeing in classroom visits, and I have seen this many times. This practice is particularly hard on struggling readers, of course.

tim 10/12/16

And your tone to the teacher who asked the question was beyond condescending. You have no idea if she is effective or not based on a question. So disappointing. 10/12/16

No, my answer was not condescending. Go back and read the comment that she wrote. She wasn't as much asking me a question as indicating that I deserved no respect because my answer did not agree with what she believed. That is a horrible position for any teacher to take about ideas. I have no idea whether she is a wonderful teacher, a terrible one, or someplace in between--but it would not matter. if she or any teacher is so committed to her instructional methods that she rejects any challenge to them, then it would be impossible to improve (since what she is already doing must be perfect). If we cannot disagree AND respect each other (and she was stating, that she for one could not), then we are all lost. That is not condescension.

tim 10/12/16

http://skrashen.blogspot.com/2016/10/sustained-silent-reading-effects-are_9.html 10/12/16

Peggy--

Yes, I am aware that Steven Krashen has blogged that I am wrong about this.

His evidence: studies focused mainly on adult learners of foreign language.

He fails to mention the heavy adult slant in the work he refers to, or that some of the meta-analyses that he cites suggest that the results were not encouraging of using the practice with younger readers (younger being high school). Nor does he mention that often these studies did not actually examine SSR, but only how much reading foreign language students were doing within instruction—like reading books and answering teachers question's—or outside of class.

He also ignores what the control groups were doing when reading on one’s own was being fostered—if the outcome goal is to teach English vocabulary to Japanese speakers for instance, then having adult students either reading English or doing math in Japanese, then I’m not surprised students learned more English vocabulary from SSR. I have written previously in this space and as a member of the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth about the benefits of encouraging students to read in L2 (even using SSR), particularly when students have very limited access to the L2 language (through media, conversation, etc.). I, for instance, taught myself to read a foreign language, largely through reading; but then I’m not 9 and I didn’t have a teacher available to me who could have accelerated my progress.

For studies of elementary and secondary school students who are native English speakers here are some resources:

Kamil, M. (2006, April). A quasi-experimental test of recreation reading: Data from a two-year study. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. (Also available from http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.htm.)

Summers, E.G., & McClelland, J.V. (1982). A field-based evaluation of sustained silent reading (SSR) in intermediate grades. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 28, 100–112.

Yoon, J., & Won, J. (2001, December). Three decades of sustained silent reading: A meta-analysis of its’ effects on reading attitude and reading comprehension. Paper presented at the National Reading Conference, San Antonio, TX.
Labels: Encouraging Reading

Yoon, J.C. (2002). Three decades of sustained silent reading: A meta-analytic review of the effects of SSR on attitude toward reading. Reading Improvement.

Rosemarie--

Okay, you say SSR works because you have used it. The problem is that you cannot tell whether it worked that way or not. You--any of us--cannot measure the opportunity cost that is inherent in such a situation. You cannot tell whether kids would have done better if you had done something different. That's why I was not telling about my experiences in the classroom, but was telling what the research findings are. That can be threatening to practitioners who have practiced in a particular way and now find out that research doesn't support it.

From World War II until the early 1980s, doctors/pharmacists prescribed/recommended that pregnant women who were nauseous should take benedictine. Millions of women took it during that time. Then in the late 1970s, some crazy researcher studied it--still providing it to large numbers of women, while withholding it from matched women (the control group). The result: those who took benedictine were more likely to miscarry. The FDA immediately ended the practice of using that drug for that purpose. My father-in-law was a pharmacist who had prescribed that to hundreds maybe thousands of women, sure he was doing the right thing. When he learned of the research he was angry, he rejected it, but was required to follow the law. I understand that finding out that teaching kids might give them more than they can learn on their own. But research supports the idea and whether you are mad about the studies or mad at me, the better reaction would be to change your practice.

good luck.

tim 10/12/16

Perhaps you did not yet see Steve Krashen's response link on Twitter...

http://skrashen.blogspot.com/2016/10/sustained-silent-reading-effects-are_9.html

I appreciate some of the comments that people have written, that it is so frustrating to think that this practice, that has been created and implemented with such pure intentions, can be unhelpful or maybe detrimental. I still have a difficult time with the idea that it is possibly detrimental, but maybe the solution is not taking away independent reading time all together from the day, but morphing it to be shorter or as reward when other things are accomplished. This shows students that reading is a prize and allows them exposure to the different types of text that are in the classroom that a teacher may not have time to introduce or that a child may not get to interact with at home. The teacher can also take a moment to read and model enjoying a good book. There are still benefits to being around books and people who are reading because they want to, even if it is not the same kind of direct benefit that we had hoped. When there is an offer of reading time as a reward and students look forward to it and get to read, it is clear that those students want that time and there is positivity around reading, as opposed to having the reading time be forced on them. This will also give students the opportunity to chose their own texts which could lead to them choosing books slightly above their reading level, which you say is beneficial in their long-term love of reading. This is how I hope to balance these issues in my classroom and I hope that it will create a positive feeling for books. 10/14/16

I was actually afforded the opportunity to read at school. I suppose I was lucky. May I ask how many years you spent teaching in a low-income high minority area?

African American poor is much different than White poor. So we can't compare your experiences to mine or my
Students. 11/24/16

I was actually afforded the opportunity to read at school. I suppose I was lucky. May I ask how many years you spent teaching in a low-income high minority area?

African American poor is much different than White poor. So we can't compare your experiences to mine or my
Students. 11/28/16

I've spent my whole career working in low income high minority areas. I don't buy your premise about white and black experience. For example, how could you possibly know (and how could I refute that "knowledge") about whether Whites and Blacks experience poverty in the same ways? If you've never experienced both situations, how could you possibly compare? Look at the research on what makes a difference in black student learning and you may be surprised to find that it is the same as the things that make a difference in the learning of white students (and in neither case does using school time for free reading come out as an important influence). Black and whites may feel different pain or may experience sadness in very different ways, but you can't tell that from your experience. 11/28/16

I was often told that that I was smart for "a Black Girl". My school was plagued by gangs, violence, and children raised by single parent households. Please review recent statistics on single parent households, incarceration, and the effect it is having on Black children. Black males are incarcerated at a much higher rate than ANY other race.

Whites are able to escape poverty, relatively unscathed. A Black person may escape the the confindes of their neighborhood, but they will always carry the negative connotations that are attached to being Black. Black poverty and White poverty are completely different. Education and money will set a largely clear path for White students. How can you motivate students that see that despite their education, they will still be seen as inferior? (Check out the income disparity between professional blacks and whites).

Can you share the negative racial stereotypes that you faced as a child?

The research on Black learning is rather theoretical in nature, and very few studies are longitudinal and/or scalable. If they were, schools in Chicago, New York, and Detroit wouldn't be scratching their heads trying to figure out the "epidemic" of low achievement in Black schools.

Can you direct me to a study that shows a practical model for teaching high poverty black students that was successful?

12/19/16

Anonymous--

One thing that is clear in the research literature--there are not many black/white interactions. By that I mean, there are very few instructional routines that work any differently with whites and blacks... the patterns are the same. What works with the students of one race seem to be the same things that work with the students of another race. (And your notions about white poverty show a lack of knowledge of the research on that topic, too.)

You say that big city school districts are scratching their heads about how to teach black students... why not adopt policies that allow inner city schools to hire teachers of the same caliber as those hired in the suburbs? why not maximize instructional time instead of pissing it away on activities (like having kids go off to read on their own instead of receiving teacher support)? why not ensure that black children are taught the skills that research shows to be implicated in achievement gains (PA, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, writing, fluency)?

There are many societal problems that confront children raised in poverty...Poor Blacks are plagued by high crime rates, gangs, low family coherence, poor housing, poor medical care, racism... As a teacher I can't address those problems, However, I can make sure that the children I teach have the opportunity for the biggest learning gains possible when in my care, rather than the smallest possible learning gains. The average learning gain found across all the different instructional interventions studied by research is about .40 of a standard deviation (in the elementary grades that is just a bit lower than a half year's extra learning benefit for using the various innovative curricula, etc.). The average learning gain for providing free reading time within the classroom is .05... in other words, the kids who use their instructional time that way get a learning benefit of about 2 weeks.

You may be satisfied in giving Black children a two-week learning benefit, I'll continue to argue for a 5 month learning benefit for them instead. The only way to conquer the low achievement problem is teaching. If the kids could do it on their own, I assure you they would have. 12/23/16

Amen. When I try to bring this up with educators, however, I am immediately shut down. Yes we want kids to want to read but SSR doesn't work well for kids who struggle. To me, book club groups where kids read together and discuss their books is a much better use of SSR time. And the teacher still needs to be involved. I find we English teachers like touchy feely but aren't trained to look at the research. Sigh.

Thank you for reposting. Totally agree with you. If you read well, then DEAR is great! If you don't, it's, well, not so dear! I personally don't swim well. Independent swim time won't help we swim better! I need coaching and explicit instruction. Without it I'll likely drown.
Don't get rid of classroom reading, but make it work for all the other needs beyond the already great readers. Make it Buddy reading where Ss help each other and then summarize what they read. Use that independent time for those that needed support and provide explicit reading instruction.

I did a literature review of this topic twenty years ago and just re read it this week. Largely the research was poor. There was very little measure of the fidelity to the program, no or very little mention of teacher training. In fact the literature was titled Sustained Silent Reading: Not as simple as it seems.
There is a huge difference between a teacher trained in the rationale, models reading during the session and has a good knowledge of children’s literature and those who use the time to carry out administrative tasks while the children read.
Studies of longer duration were more likely to show positive results
The biggest problem with the research was that the didn’t measure how it effected different readers. I suspect that if done properly it has a positive effect on readers of average ability and motivation. However, studies of reading motivation show that there is a relatively consistent group of children around 15% who are actively motivated not to read. The best you get out of this group is passive non-compliance; looking at the book pretending to read. These children’s reading will go backwards under SSR.
The program worked for me as some who knew the research on the importance of teacher modelling knew and loved children’s literature and sat with the low ability low motivation kids.

"But if you really want kids to love reading, teach them to read. Achievement does more for motivation than the other way around."

An excellent reminder: Success begets Motivation. If I can read accurately and fluently and can understand the words and have necessary background knowledge, I am much more likely to be motivated to read independently.

Ronald P. Carver in his 1990 book, Reading Rate: A review of research and theory. New York: Academic Pess thought that volume reading would be a cause of high reading achievement; but by 2000 in Causes of High and Low Reading Achievement, he was forced by the research and developments in theory to reverse himself. Chapter 21 (Volume of Reading) explains why volume reading of easy material is not a cause of high reading achievement. Carver wrote, "The main way for these readers to increase their reading achievement is probably by engaging in a high volume of hard reading." He maintained, "There is no good evidence that sustained silent reading, SSR, in elementary school classrooms increases reading achievement." He concluded, "High volumes of easy rauding should not be recommended for any student as a way to increase reading achievement."

Any teacher who wants to improve their reading achievement might consider tackling Carver's Causes of High and Low Reading Achievement as a perfect example of the kind of hard reading which Carver maintained would improve reading achievement!

At a gathering, one of my former students said that during free reading he counted to 12 before turning a page so it would "look like he was reading." The other young man chuckled and said he counted to fifteen.

Yes, TEACH them to read. Achievement gives them the tools to enter new worlds. Without the tools, it is torture.

Tim... you discount independent reading by assigning names for independent reading that were used 20 years ago. Reading workshop is based on instruction where students are given choice, just right books, and time to time to read, supported by a teacher who meets with readers individually, as partners, and in small groups. It's not just about DEAR. So many students are not reading at home these days, and if they don't read in school, then they won't read.

There is a ton of research that supports giving kids time to read in order to improve reading.
Reading, and writing are performance-based disciplines... to get better at them, we need time to practice. If Isolated skill work actually worked, we'd have amazing readers in this country. It doesn't. Anything I want to do well... I have to practice, and reading is no different. Choice, stamina, and engagement with reading is essential if we are going to grow readers who actually like to read. The fact that you think time to read is not proven to work to grow readers makes me think you have other motives, or perhaps products to sell to schools.

Some of the research you site is antiquated.

This article could not have been more timely for me. I teach gifted fourth grade students, all of whom are good or even advanced readers. I've been using an independent reading model with them, but I've been frustrated because I've had a hard time motivating them to do the reading and activities. They selected their own genre of books and their own title, and their own activities (from a very large menu). I was actually, just moments ago, considering whether a book club or novel study model would have worked better with them, so that they could discuss, argue, etc. over the texts they're reading. In gifted, I often have to (maybe I should say, I have the freedom to) scrap units and simulations, etc. that don't work, so now I'm definitely going to rethink and redesign that reading block. Thanks!

Interesting to me that when you mention "independent reading" in your email blast, my expectation was that the article would focus on reading independently from teacher, peers, or parents. You focused more on the motivational component. I would like to know more about the efficacy of independent reading (including some of the accountability add-ons you mention) with respect to fluency, comprehension, and especially vocabulary development. You tantalized us with the (Eklund & Torpa, in press) research, but did not summarize what their study found.

My personal take on in-class independent reading is that all instruction is reductive. If a teacher spends time on one thing, it takes away from another. I see independent reading with accountability (parent-child, peer to peer reading discussions, writing response) as ideal homework.

In my opinion Independent reading has some merit but not as complete replacement of guided reading books or shared book discussion groups. There very little simultaneous reading of shared books in most elementary schools today.

The shift to the reader’s workshop approach has lead to the rise of individualism and the loss of discourse of our shared and different perspectives of what it means to be human in this world.

Imagine as an adult being in a book club where everyone always comes to group to discuss different books. How can students ask questions or think more deeply about a book when no one is really there to respond to them? Even the best teachers can not meet with 25 students over the course of a few weeks and have any deep dialog about twenty five different books. Don’t we learn more, understand things better with a guide and people’s perspectives? Don’t we learn to be more empathetic when we are exposed to other people’s life experiences? The world could use a little more of this in our future citizens.

Thought provoking. As a veteran teacher of reading, serving in schools with a population of reluctant or unmotivated readers, I’ve always provided independent reading time allow my students to read in school knowing they don’t read outside of school. Based on your research and your studies this practice waa a futile practice. Reflecting on this practice, I must agree! The achievement levels of students’ who had no interest in reading group marginally with this practice. But the question still remains, how do I motivate the unmotivated student to want to intrinsically pick up a book and read just for the l love of reading.

Jeanne— you are wrong that there is a ton of research showing that assigning reading raises reading achievement. That is not at all what the research has found. You can change the name of a practice (calling assigned/required reading independent for instance is hilarious), but it doesn’t change its effectiveness. I’d love to see what you think is research proving your claim?

Tim

How refreshing to read your data driven thoughts on independent reading! As a Special ed teacher who is currently getting certified in an intensive,explicit multi-sensory instructional program, I totally agree! Teach a student with direct instruction, provide controlled texts with words they have learned to read- and they feel so proud! Give them 30 minutes of forced reading at their "instructional level" without instruction, and they look at pictures and draw. Thank you Mr. Shanahan!

Reading these commentes I wonder how many teachers realize that a number of their students are faking it, pretending to read by staring at the page and even turning the page at regular intervals. I know this because I used to be a faker, and I was really good at it.

I feel like we’re constantly told what to do or not do as reading teachers, but never how to do it. What does effective reading instruction of 25 unique learners look like in 90 minutes? Where do I find specifics? It’s not that we don’t want to improve, it’s just that there’s never a straightforward doable explanation of HOW!

In effort to answer the teacher's question you focus on the impact of independent reading on motivation and mention the only minor impact of UNASSISTED independent reading programs on achievement (like DEAR etc.). My question is this, is there any significant impact on achievement for "independent" (in the sense of completed on one's own not voluntary) reading with accountability in place? For example, reading homework--read chapters 1-3 at home etc. and answer given questions. Or, more specifically, are there any conditions or situations in which giving a kid a book, having him or her read it and then prove he/she read it impacts achievement to a worthwhile degree or is that always time better spent in other ways? Any direction to research appreciated as well.
--C

Jeanne— you are wrong that there is a ton of research showing that assigning reading raises reading achievement. That is not at all what the research has found. You can change the name of a practice (calling assigned/required reading independent for instance is hilarious), but it doesn’t change its effectiveness. I’d love to see what you think is research proving your claim?

Tim

Hannah— I don’t think we know the impact of assigned out of school reading, except during the summer. It is possible to get a positive effect from that, but it requires a lot of effort to get it set up in a way that works and the layoffs are small. Look for James Kim’s work on summer reading.

Tim

You're an idiot

Do you have more to add to “ Eklund & Torpa, in press”?

Thanks.

"Krashen rejects any study without the "right" findings claiming that the researcher made some kind of mistake, and he accepts studies that come up with the "right" findings even if they have the same problem that was used to set aside other studies" (Shanahan, 2017, April 5).

Couldn't the same be said about you and the Reading First program?

"For an intervention as demanding and expensive as Reading First, I think it is fair to demand that evidence of its success be sufficiently large to be unambiguous and certain. That definitely is not the case at this point" (Shanahan, 2008, p. 7).

"Nevertheless, I would not ditch Reading First, at least not yet. Very much like my suggestions about reading to kids or teaching grammar, I would take these findings and ask what could be done to increase the chances of making it work. I think there are many ways that Reading First-style reforms could be made more intensive and more likely to work" ((Shanahan, 2008, p. 7).

Also you contradict yourself, "silent reading practice matters” (Shanahan, 2015, p. 461) “I do think teachers need to entertain the likelihood that [sustained silent reading] will not make much difference in kids' reading achievement” (Shanahan, 2008, p. 5).

Perhaps, you would just like more teacher control over how silent reading occurs? One sentence at time and then questioned about each sentence they read? Wow, that's sounds like an engaging and fun way to learn.


Shanahan, T. (2015). Let’s Get Higher Scores on These New Assessments. Reading Teacher, 68(6), 459–463.

Shanahan, T. (2008). Reading Education through the Eyes of a Curmudgeon. California Reader, 42(1), 3–9.

Typo - Wow, that sounds like an engaging and fun way to learn. (I forgot to ask myself a question about each sentence).

Kathy,
No, I don't think that is the same thing at all. I'm very forthright about what the studies show and what they don't. When I go beyond the evidence I point it out (so that if you disagree with my reasoning, it is easy to discard it). That's very different than biasing the research interpretations to try to get everyone on board with your point of view.

In terms of silent reading versus independent reading time in school... first, those are not the same thing. Kids can read texts silently within instruction... in independent reading, the kids are on their own, reading self selected books (not books that are there for educational purposes) without teacher support or any kind of serious follow up to get them to think more deeply with the text. Research shows that reading instruction has about 4-8 times the effectiveness of independent reading. So, indeed, I support silent reading, but not independent reading in the place of instruction.

Your final remarks I suspect were meant to show disdain for my recommendation. I would suggest that the purpose of reading instruction is to help make kids better readers rather than being satisfied with how well they can already read. Try it, you might find the kids like being able to understand text more deeply.

Good luck.

tim

Dr. Shanahan,

I appreciate your still engaging on this older post. I teach 11th grade and 12th grade English and my students as a group have a wide range of reading skills and motivation. I have made it a priority to offer time at the start of class for students to read a book of their choosing. I am also building in time to have them write weekly reflections on and questions about their books. I understand that there are more focused ways to teach reading explicitly, and I do some of that too.

I'm open to seeing research that this daily practice is not helpful in high school. Of the articles you cited above, the one that had a link provided (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.htm) says this:

"Reading practice is generally recognized as an important contributor to fluency. Two instructional approaches, each of which has several variations, have typically been used to teach reading fluency. One, guided repeated oral reading, encourages students to read passages orally with systematic and explicit guidance and feedback from the teacher. The other, independent silent reading, encourages students to read silently on their own, inside and outside the classroom, with minimal guidance or feedback."

So that study seems to see some value in this practice. What I know is that many students in high school do not do the assigned reading in their English classes, so that they can literally end high school reading pretty much no books. If instead they end the year reading 8 books, and learning more about themselves as readers, and they do this along with more focused all-class direct reading instruction--to me, intuitively, not reviewing all research on secondary-level choice reading practices, this seems all to the good. I think, though, that you're saying the research clearly states that this daily choice reading is not a best practice--is that right? The stakes are so high here that I really want to get this right.

Dr. Shanahan,

I appreciate your still engaging on this older post. I teach 11th grade and 12th grade English and my students as a group have a wide range of reading skills and motivation. I have made it a priority to offer time at the start of class for students to read a book of their choosing. I am also building in time to have them write weekly reflections on and questions about their books. I understand that there are more focused ways to teach reading explicitly, and I do some of that too.

I'm open to seeing research that this daily practice is not helpful in high school. Of the articles you cited above, the one that had a link provided (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.htm) says this:

"Reading practice is generally recognized as an important contributor to fluency. Two instructional approaches, each of which has several variations, have typically been used to teach reading fluency. One, guided repeated oral reading, encourages students to read passages orally with systematic and explicit guidance and feedback from the teacher. The other, independent silent reading, encourages students to read silently on their own, inside and outside the classroom, with minimal guidance or feedback."

So that study seems to see some value in this practice. What I know is that many students in high school do not do the assigned reading in their English classes, so that they can literally end high school reading pretty much no books. If instead they end the year reading 8 books, and learning more about themselves as readers, and they do this along with more focused all-class direct reading instruction--to me, intuitively, not reviewing all research on secondary-level choice reading practices, this seems all to the good. I think, though, that you're saying the research clearly states that this daily choice reading is not a best practice--is that right? The stakes are so high here that I really want to get this right.

Chris--

The value of daily choice reading depends on what it is being compared with. If we are talking about kids doing such reading outside of school then it is likely taking the place of television, computer games, etc. In such a case, daily choice reading is well worth encouraging, recommending, supporting. However, more often, it is daily choice reading versus reading a challenging text under the supervision of a teacher who leads discussions about it, shows kids ways of making sense of the text (e.g., dealing with symbols and metaphors and how to recognize plot structure, vocabulary), writing about the text, etc. In that comparison, daily choice reading is a bad choice.

Some teachers are having great success getting kids to read outside of school instead of surrendering their English class in this pursuit (though some class time is needed to provide kids some guidance to books and for kids to share their reading). Use your teaching time to teach and for kids to read books that are aimed at helping them learn things we value as a community or culture and encourage kids to use their time to engage in activities like using reading to self actualize and to pursue their personal interests.

tim