THE DECLINE OF STUDENT READING INTEREST

ABSTRACT

The Decline of Reading Interest: Why Schools are the Problem

We are part of a society that places high esteem on reading, interest in
reading, and literacy in general. Why then, do our schools seem to stifle the innate
love of reading within our youth?
At a young age, children like books. They like to interact with the pages, they
love to be read to, and they love to discover the beauty of unlocking and decoding
our language. Interest in reading is strong as students enter school, but there is a
noticeable drop-off in enjoyment as children advance through the grades.
The middle school setting is often where reading interest begins to wane.
The downward slope continues throughout high school where it is essential that
teenagers are prepared to be literate members of society who maintain their own
reading repertoire and can navigate the variety of texts that fill our word-rich world.
Instead, schools can take much of the responsibility for decreasing interest in
reading instead of raising it. In order to investigate why students lose interest with
reading as they advance through the grade levels, this research relied upon surveys
and questionnaires were administered to 20 staff members representing grades 5-8
and 71 eighth grade students.
The focus on standardized testing, lack of reading choice in classrooms,
teachers assumptions that students know how to read, benefits of creating a
reading culture, and an investigation of outdated literacy teaching techniques were
all explored in the staff survey questions in an effort to show that schools are
missing the mark when it comes to fostering young adults as life-long readers.
THE DECLINE OF STUDENT READING INTEREST


The staff survey results revealed a clear disconnect between teachers beliefs
that reading is important compared to what they actually promote in their
classrooms. Student survey results showed that they will engage in a high level of
reading interest only when the following conditions were met: free choice to select
books, time to read in class, discussion reading with students and adults, feeling that
they could abandon books without chastisement, and engaging in assessments and
projects that included options and choices.
Except for language arts classrooms where teachers in the district have
adopted the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP), these
conditions are not found in other content area classrooms; this had lead to students
finding enjoyment and importance in reading through one class only. There is
virtually no connection to reading during the remainder of the school day, despite
faculty assumptions that they are promoting a reading-rich school.
The results of the surveys were shared with staff so that work can begin
bridging the gap between perception and reality when it comes to the importance of
reading and fostering its enjoyment. The results are clear: it is not solely the
responsibility of language arts teachers. All staff must work together to create a
culture of reading that supports literacy, learning, and enjoyment.