Ideas for Fine-Tuning Summer Reading Programs

From the Marshall Memo #432

In this Education Week article, Hannah Rose Sacks summarizes a new federal study showing that giving books to disadvantaged elementary-school students over the summer is not enough to improve their reading comprehension. The study measured the pre- and post- comprehension levels of 1,571 third and fourth graders who received eight books appropriate to their reading levels and interests and postcard reminders over the summer. The students read slightly more over the summer than a control group, but made no gains in comprehension. “The lack of improvement in the fall led the authors to suggest that other factors, such as personalized teacher encouragement, may be key to summer book programs,” says Sacks.

“Report Roundup: Summer Reading” in Education Week, Apr. 4, 2012; the full study, “Does a Summer Reading Program Based on Lexiles Affect Reading Comprehension”, can be downloaded at: http://www.educause.edu/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutGoogl/156817