Summers: Some are reading, some are not.

1. Summers:Some are reading, some are not. Richard L. Allington, Ph.D. University of Tennessee

2. Summer reading setback Most of the rich/poor achievement gap (80%) stems from summer reading setback.

3. 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! Summers really matter…

5. 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.

6. 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.”

7. 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. SES matters

8. 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…

9. 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! How large is the rich/poor gap?

10. Average Reading Scores By Student Eligibility for Free/Reduced Meals

11. 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.

12. 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!

13. 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. Why does summer setback occur?

14. 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…

15. Some low-income neighborhoods have public libraries but these libraries are more often rated “child unfriendly” than libraries in other neighborhoods (Neuman, 2009). What about public libraries…

16. We conducted a 3 year study on the effects of providing children from low-income families with self-selected books. • Each child selected 12-15 books every year. • We gave them these books on the last day of school. One solution

17. We provided books for roughly 1,000 low-income 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.

18. Our study simply enhanced the access poor children had to books. • Books they had selected to read. Putting books in their hands…

20. 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. Acess is powerful…

21. Access to Books

22. What we found out. Providing children from low-income families with 12-15 books each summer produced positive effects on reading achievement.

23. The size of the effect was as large or larger than attending summer school! • Increased reading development 40% of a grade level, or about 1.5months increase each summer on average. • Summer books eliminated summer reading loss and added growth every year. Summer books are important…

24. 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. Poorest kids benefit the most…

25. 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? Low cost intervention…

26. Choice is second only to access to books. • Combined they create a powerful force in addressing summer reading setback. Choice is powerful…

27. 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. Kids have unique interests…

28. 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) What children selected to read…

29. 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.

30. 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.). The books selected were varied…

31. We hope to replicate the study with low-income rural students from the Smokey Mountains region of eastern Tennessee. • We are hoping to enlist parents as conversational partners with their children. One more time…

32. 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.

33. 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. Other models for summer books…

34. 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…

35. The book truck…

36. 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. Poor kids need summer books…

37. 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…

38. 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…

39. 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? Where there is a will…

40. 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. We can, but will we?

41. Questions? • Concerns? • Ideas?