Get Your Students to Read During the Summer

James Kim and Thomas White of Harvard University conducted an experiment to see if summer reading helps improve test scores and if it can be a factor in closing the achievement gap between minorities and white students. The researchers think that the lull in academic activity in the summer causes a decline in literacy skills. 

Kim and White took a group of children and divided them into four different groups to conduct the experiment. Every student was tested before and after the experiment on their reading ability. The groups were:

• Group 1: Control. These students received no additional instruction or materials.
• Group 2: Books only. Over the summer these students were mailed books matched to their reading levels and interests, but they received no special reading instruction. Their parents were simply asked to encourage the children to read.
• Group 3: Books with oral reading scaffolding. These students received books matched to their reading levels and interests, along with directed-oral reading instruction from their teachers prior to the end of the school year. Their parents received a letter asking them to have their children read aloud, and to provide feedback on their reading. The students then filled out a postcard describing their understanding of the books.
• Group 4: Books with oral reading and comprehension scaffolding. These students also received books matched to their reading levels and interests, along with oral reading and comprehension instruction from their teachers prior to the end of the school year; and their parents also received a letter asking them to have their child read aloud, and to provide feedback on the reading. In addition, these students were asked to identify what strategies they used—such as re-reading, predicting, and summarizing—to understand the meaning of the book. Students also filled out a postcard describing their understanding of the books.   

The results indicated that students in groups 3 and 4 showed improvement in their reading abilities and scored better on Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) than the students in groups 1 and 2. Black and Hispanic students from low-income families in group 4 gained 1.7-5.1 months of additional learning because of the experiment.

The researchers conclude that support from teachers and books assigned to students that tailor to their interests and reading levels can help students raise test scores and improve their reading comprehension.

Do you assign summer reading to your students? If so, do you allow them to pick any books they want or do you give them assigned titles?