alia schools victoria reading achievement vs reading engagement d r susan la marca october 2006

ALIA Schools Victoria

Reading Achievement

vs

Reading EngagementDr Susan La Marca

October 2006

• Pleasure Reading and School Achievement

• Reading Engagement

A print- rich environment leads to more reading and free voluntary reading is the best predictor of comprehension, vocabulary growth, spelling and grammatical ability and writing style.

Lonsdale, M. (2003) Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement: a Review of the Research p. 1.

Reading and school achievement

…reading for fun had a positive relationship to average scores. At all three ages (9, 13, 17 years), students who said they read for fun scored higher than peers who said they never read for fun.

Campbell, J. R., Hombo, C. M., & Mazzeo, J. (2000) 1999 Trends in Academic Progress: Three Decades of Student Performance


Students who read independently become better readers, score higher on achievement tests in all subject areas, and have greater content knowledge than those who do not.

Cullinan, B. E. (2000) Independent Reading and School Achievement,


Independent reading is the kind students choose to do on their own; it is not assigned or assessed, but it has a positive effect on learning and school achievement. Research about the effects of independent reading on school achievement and programs planned to promote it demonstrates these common factors:



The amount of free reading done outside school has consistently been found to relate to achievement in vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency, and general information.



Students' reading achievement correlates with success in school and the amount of independent reading they do.



Students who read well tend to be active readers. They gain in terms of both motivation and experience from reading regularly outside the context of school work.

OECD (2000) Reading for Change: Performance and Engagement Across Countries. Results form PISA 2000 p. 12.



One crucial factor that education systems can work on is the degree to which students are active and well motivated readers. This report shows that the degree to which students are engaged in reading is a crucial factor associated with reading proficiency.

OECD (2000) Reading for Change: Performance and Engagement Across Countries. Results form PISA 2000 p. 3


The results show how important it is not just to teach students to read but to engage them in reading as part of their lives.

OECD (2000) Reading for Change: Performance and Engagement Across Countries. Results form PISA 2000 p. 12.

OECD (2000) Reading for Change: Performance and

Engagement Across Countries. Results form PISA 2000

Australia

A good reading environment, including comfort and quiet, as well as larger library collections, affect reading, literacy development and reading scores.

Haycock, Dr Ken (2003) The Crisis of Canada's School Libraries: The Case for Reform and Re-Investment, p. 28.

The reading environment and school achievement

Engagement

OECD (2000) Reading for Change: Performance and Engagement Across Countries. Results form PISA 2000

Engagement can compensate for

background.

The number of books a student has access to correlates to the levels of achievement and engagement.


Engagement

Engagement

The time parents spend ‘communicating’ with students correlates to achievement and engagement levels.


Engagement

Engaged reading is a merger of motivation and thoughtfulness. Engaged readers seek to understand; they enjoy learning and they believe in their reading abilities. They are mastery orientated, intrinsically motivated…’

Guthrie, John T. & Donna E Alvermann (1999) (editors) Engaged Reading: Process, Practices and Policy Implications.

•Access•Relevant Collections•Choice•Time and space for reading•Support in understanding how rich texts work•Opportunities to explore and share those understandings •Knowledgeable, helpful staff•A supportive, welcoming environment

Facilitating Engagement

Access

Teachers create contexts for engagement when they provide prominent knowledge goals,

real-world connections to reading, meaningful

choices about what, when, and how to read,

and interesting texts that are familiar, vivid, important and relevant.

Guthrie, John T. & Donna E Alvermann (1999) (editors) Engaged Reading: Process, Practices and Policy Implications.

Reading materials at home


Access

Haycock, Dr Ken (2003) The Crisis of Canada's School Libraries: The Case for Reform and Re-Investment, p. 28

Relevant Collections

It should come as no surprise that if reading is valued and promoted, young people will need interesting and relevant material to read. Access to these materials becomes critical. Further, the larger the library collection, the larger the impact on reading and achievement.

Choice

Guthrie, John T. & Donna E Alvermann (1999) (editors) Engaged Reading: Process, Practices and Policy Implications. p. 69.

Creating classroom communities, providing challenging tasks, and allowing students to make choices characterise effective practices that connect to students’ interests and motivations. Connecting to students’ interests and values ultimately can produce motivated, engaged readers.

Choice

Time & Space

Understanding requires interpretation, and interpretation depends on learned practices.

Support in understanding how rich texts work

Sumara, 2002, p. xiv

What we need to do is investigate the way in which texts work – what the shared rules are.

Support in understanding how rich texts work

Hunt, 1991, p.89

The power of peer group

Opportunity to explore and share

Readers are made by readers

Knowledgeable, helpful staff

Chambers, 1991

Children learn about literature from what the adults around them do about it.

A supportive environment

Zahnleiter, 1985, p. 187

Research shows that the relationship between school librarians and teachers has a significant impact on the quality of learning in schools. Better integration, mutual understanding and respect need to be developed.

Relationships

Teacher-librarians must work on building relationships as consciously as they work on building collections.

Relationships

Hartzell, 1999

You don’t devote a place solely to one special activity unless you believe it to be enormously important. Just by being there… a reading area announces to children…that in this classroom, this school, this community, reading is understood to be an essential occupation.

Spaces

Chambers, 1991, p. 30

•Access•Relevant Collections•Choice•Time and space for reading•Support in understanding how rich texts work•Opportunities to explore and share those understandings •Knowledgeable, helpful staff•A supportive, welcoming environment

Facilitating Engagement

alia schools victoria reading achievement vs reading engagement d r susan la marca october 2006

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