LARGE PRINT: A PROVEN SOLUTION FOR STRIVING READERS

RESEARCH SUMMARY

ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING, ENGAGEMENT, AND COMPREHENSIONLarge print improves reading experiences, academic outcomes, and cognitive health by increasing:

• Readingfluency:decodingspeedandtrackingease

• Readingcomprehension

• Sensorysatisfaction

• Academicachievement

• Sustainedreading

Theresultisanincreaseinreadervocabularyandindependencebecausethereaderisnotlimitedtolower-levelreadingmaterials.

AtThorndikePress,wewanttohelpyouandyourreadersrealizethebenefitsoflargeprint.Overtheyears,we’vecollectedindependentresearchdemonstratingthemanywayslargeprintsupportsleisurereadingandlearningforallagesandabilities.

STRENGTHEN LITERACY SKILLS WITH LARGE PRINT

63%OF EIGHTH GRADERSARE NOT READING AT GRADE LEVEL ACCORDING TO THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 2017 NATIONAL REPORT CARD.

7.5 HOURS AVERAGE AMOUNT OF TIME EIGHT-TO EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLDS SPEND IN FRONT OF A SCREEN ACCORDING TO THE KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION.11

OF THE TEACHERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN A NATIONWIDE STUDY INVOLVING LARGE PRINT CONSUMPTION IN THE CLASSROOM, 67% SAID LARGE PRINT DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED THEIR STUDENTS’ READING SKILLS.

67%

THE PHYSICAL BENEFITS OF LARGE PRINT Withoutlegibility,readingisalaboriousprocess,leadingtodisengagementamongdiscouraged,reluctant,orstrivingreaders.

• Largerfontsandincreasedspacingforcetheeyetomovemoreslowly,allowingstudentstotrackmoreeasily.¹

• Printsizeimpactsthemaximumspeedatwhichtextmayberead.²

• Seriffontsaidstrugglingreadersbymakingthewordseasiertoread.³

• Childrenareaidedbygreaterleading,eliminatingtheirtendencytodoubleorskiplineswhenreading.4

• Readingcomprehensionandmemoryhingeonlegibility.5

PRINT IS STILL THE GOLD STANDARDTechnologicaladvanceshaveresultedinmoreaffordableelectronicandaudiobooks;however,noteveryonewithreadingdifficultiesisinterestedinconsumingbooksdigitally.

Largeprintfontandstyleselectionsreducereadereyefatigue.6Readingprintsupportsmorecompleteeyeblinksthanreadingonacomputer,thusminimizingdryeye.7When itcomestointensivelyreadinglongpiecesofplaintext,paperandinkmaystillhave theadvantage.8

Agrowingbodyofresearchsuggestsstudentreaderscomprehendwhattheyreadinprintbooksatmuchgreaterratesthantheydowhenconsumingcontentdigitally.9Childrencomprehendwhattheyreadintraditionalprintbooksatmuchhigherlevelsthanthe samematerialreadonaniPad.10

SUPPORTING STRIVING READERSStudentsmaybeunmotivated,seereadingasoflittlevalue,orbeenticedbyalternateendeavorsandhavelimitedtimetoread.Theymaylackvisualacuity,vocabularyor comprehensionskills,orbeESLlearners.TheymaybediagnosedwithADD/ADHDorhavealearningdisability,suchasdyslexia.Nomatterthecause,theysharethecommondenominatorofreadinglessthantheirpeers.

InasurveyconductedbyThorndikePress,teachersreportedthatcomprehension, motivationandconfidencebuilding,vocabulary,tracking,andreadingenjoymentwereaddressedwhenusinglargeprintbooks.Morethanhalfoftheparticipatingteachersreportedstudentswerereadingbetteratthesamelevelorreadingatthenextlevelafteronlyfivemonths’exposuretolargeprintbooks.Theseresultsendorsethe importanceofmakinglargeprintavailabletoyoungreaders.

Researchconsistentlyshowslargeprintbooksarenecessaryingredientsinsuccessfulreadingprogramsforstudentsofallagesandlearningstages,enablingstriving readerstomakesubstantialprogresswithcomprehension,tracking,andfluency:

• Typographicalfactorssuchasfontsize,fontstyle,leading,andcoloraidinthedevelopmentofreading.12

• Readingspeedandaccuracyareaidedwhentextshavelargerandmorewidelyspacedfonts.Thisisparticularlytrueforemergingreadersofanyage,thuseliminatinganintimidationfactorassociatedwithsmallfontsizes.13

• Studentsusinglargeprintbooksforoneyearimprovedbetween41%and70%ontheirSRAreadingscores.14

41%–70% STUDENTS USING LARGE PRINT BOOKS FOR ONE YEAR IMPROVED BETWEEN 41% AND 70% ON THEIR SRA READING SCORES.14

ABOUT THORNDIKE PRESSAstheworld’sleadinglargeprintpublisher,ThorndikePress,aGalecompany,helpsreadersof

allagesenjoybooks.In1999,westartedpublishingunabridgedreprintsofbooksinlargeprint

formiddlegradeandyoungadultreaders,ourcataloguenowfeaturesover300awardwinning,

bestselling,popular,andclassictitlesfrommorebestsellingauthorsthananyotherpublisher.

Ourcommitmenttoproducinghighquality,100%guaranteedlargeprintbookssupportsyoung

readersastheydeveloptheskillsnecessarytobecomesuccessful,confident,lifelongreaders.

MAKE READING MORE ACCESSIBLEThorndikePressbooksfeaturea16-pointfont,printedinhigh-contrastblackinkon thinner,butstillopaque,paper.Expandedcharacterspacinginleadingandone-thirdmorelinespacinghelpsincreasereadability.

Largeprintbooksarecomparableinsizeandweighttotraditionalprint.Largeprint editionsforstudentsdonotusuallyincludethewords“largeprint”onthecover,are unabridgedandarepresentedwithidenticalcoverdesignstotheoriginalprinteditions.Thispreventsstrivingreadersfromfeelingself-conscious.

Self-selectionofmaterialisakeycomponenttoactiveandmeaningfulliterarylearning.ThorndikePresspublishesbestselling,popular,andclassicbooks.Importantly,educatorssaythecontentinthesebooksismoreapttoholdastrivingreader’sattention.

1,2 Legge,G.&Bigelow,C.DoesPrintSizeMatterforReading?(2014,August). RetrievedDecember16,2014from http://www.journalofvision.org/ content/11/5/8.full

2,4 Worden,E(1991).Ergonomicsandliteracy:morecommonthanyouthink(ReportN.CS-010-451).EastLansing,MI:NationalCenterforResearchonTeacherLearning.(ERICDocumentReproductionServiceNo.ED329901).

3,5,6,7Bloodswroth,J.G.(1993).Legibilityofprint(ReportNo.CS-011-244).EastLansing,M:NationalCenterforResearchonTeacherLearning.(ERICDocumentReproductionServicesNo.ED355497)/

8 Tanner,M.J.(2014)Digitalvs.Print:ReadingComprehensionandtheFutureoftheBook.SLISStudentResearchJournal,4(2).Retrieved8-12-16.http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/slissrj/vol4/iss2/6

9 Jabr,F.,(2013).TheReadingBrainintheDigitalAge:TheScienceofPaperversusScreens.ScientificAmerican.April11,2013.Web.Retrieved8-14-16.http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ reading-paper-screens/

10 Herold,B.ResearchersVoiceConcern OverE-Books’EffectonReading Comprehension.(2014,April).Retrieved December16,2014fromhttp://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/ DigitalEducation/2014/04/early_ concerns_about_e-books_e_1.html

11 KaiserFamilyFoundation.(2010)GenerationM²:MediaintheLivesof8-to18-YearOld’s.Retrieved8.20.2018.https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/8010.pdf

12,13 Mathes,P.(2016).CuringDyslexia:WhatisPossible.WebinarfromtheInternationalDyslexiaAssociation.RetrievedAugust8,2016fromhttps://dyslexiaida.org/curing-dyslexia-what-is-possible/

14 Lowe,E(2003,May).Largeprintbooks:themissinglinkforspeedandfluencyforallstudents–Struggling,proficient,inbetween.PaperpresentedatthemeetingofTheInternationalReadingAssociation,Orlando,FL.

Sources:

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Thorndike Press large print editions are complete, unabridged, feature the same cover art and are comparable in size to standard print editions.

Elizabeth Lowe LiteracyandNeuroscienceResearcher

“Large print books are the missing component for accelerating literacy comprehension and reading fluency for all students, whether they are struggling, proficient, or in between.”