[CALIBK12] [CSLA Research Update] Reading study

[Mike Specchierla]

My experience in Colusa adds further anecdotal evidence that AR when
used incorrectly is quite harmful, while lot's of books, and an
encouraging atmosphere creates readers. It works here:

 

CHS does on average 40 books a day - (low of 6,000 in a year high of
8,000 checkouts to 300 students over a school year). I won't bore you
with all the stats I have.

 

I wish I had an assistant of Kathy's caliber, but my student TA's at
least bring the same passion for books that she does.

M.F. Specchierla
Library Media Teacher
Colusa High School
Colusa, CA 95932
Phone: 530.458.2156
Fax: 530.458.5783
mspecchierla at colusa.k12.ca.us
visit us online at: www.colusahigh.org

-----Original Message-----
From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu
[mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Spielman, Kathy
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 9:20 AM
To: Lesley Farmer; calibk12 at listproc.sjsu.edu
Subject: Re: [CALIBK12] [CSLA Research Update] Reading study

 

Reading for pleasure is the answer. Lots of reading.

This is interesting to me. for the past 3-4 years, our circulation at
our middle school has risen sharply. We decided to concentrate on
ordering popular fiction. We began to ask the students when checking out
books, what elementary school they were coming from, how many books they
read a month, and reasons for why they read the books they read. 

It was a real eye opener. At the beginning of the year, many of the 6th
graders rarely checked out books. We started the survey and found that
students who attended schools using AR, stopped checking out books once
they came to our school that does not do AR. They said they didn't like
to read. The students who had attended elementary schools without AR
were avid readers. 

We scheduled classes to come in for book talks and discussions on
reading for pleasure. These same students got huge smiles on their faces
and asked if they could really, really pick any book they wanted. They
were delighted to find out that they not only had free choice, they had
no limits set on how many or what types of books. I even have parents of
5th graders from feeder schools coming in and checking out books for
their kids that their teachers won't let them read because they are not
their AR level.

Our circulation has risen from about 80 books a day to over 300 books a
day. We have 850 students. We are currently tracking pages read for fun
on our crane from School Libraries Build Readers theme. We are just shy
of 1 million pages. Yes, staff reading pages are included.

 

Now, instead our new problem is getting enough new books.  Yes, that is
a good problem to have. 

Kathy

Kathy Spielman 
Middle School Library/Media Technician 
Yorba Linda Middle School 
4777 Casa Loma Ave. 
Yorba Linda, CA 92886 
(714)528-7090 ext.7062 
kspielman at pylusd.org 
Read to succeed! 
I am the best I can be BECAUSE I CAN READ 

 

	-----Original Message-----
	From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu
[mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu]On Behalf Of Lesley Farmer
	Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 8:55 AM
	To: calibk12 at listproc.sjsu.edu
	Subject: [CALIBK12] [CSLA Research Update] Reading study

	Americans appear to be reading less for fun, and as that
	happens, their reading test scores are declining. At
	the same time, performance in other academic
	disciplines like math and science is dipping for
	students whose access to books is limited, and
	employers are rating workers deficient in basic
	writing skills. These findings are based on
	an analysis of data from about two dozen studies from
	the federal Education and Labor Departments and the
	Census Bureau as well as other academic, foundation
	and business surveys. 
	National Endowment for the Arts. (2007). To read or not to read.
Washington, DC: NEA.
	http://www.nea.gov/research/ResearchReports_chrono.html 
	
	--
	Posted By Lesley Farmer to CSLA Research Update
<http://cslaresearchupdate.blogspot.com/2007/11/reading-study.html>  at
11/19/2007 08:51:00 AM

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