Katherine Wiggins

Most of us would not be surprised to hear that our generation does less reading for enjoyment than our parents’ and grandparents’ generations did. Most of us would admit that we choose television, movies, social media, online gaming, and other forms of technology as an entertainment source far more often than we become engrossed in a book. Many of us might be hard pressed to remember the last time we completed a novel, read a poem, or studied a classical work. What we may not realize, however, is how extensive the decline of recreational reading has become and the threats it imposes on current and future generations of Americans. Since the 1980s, the frequency of reading has declined among Americans of all ages, ethnicities, and levels of education—and along with this downward trend, reading comprehension rates and literacy ability have either remained stagnant or dropped.

There are two primary causational factors to which the reading decline is attributed. The first is the increasing development of technology: the evolution of television and film, as well as the introduction of the internet and the growing availability of portable devices, has contributed a variety of options to the world of entertainment and thereby lessened the value of reading books as a primary source of gaining information.

There is, however, a second, more minutely recognized factor that has contributed both to the decreased popularity of reading and the lack of American literacy: the education system. Though not the sole cause of the reading decline, the American school system plays a critical role in early development of interest in reading, as well as the acquisition of lifelong reading skills. Because of the influence of education throughout an individual’s life and the foundations that are laid during these critical learning years, I believe that education reform is the first step in reversing this negative reading trend.

Before discussing how to combat the reading decline, we must examine how it has been brought to light as an issue and why it is important. The National Endowment for the Arts, an independent government agency that has been researching Americans’ participation in various areas of the arts since the 1940s, has conducted a large series of studies revealing that reading has greatly decreased in popularity in recent decades. Two particular studies of significance are the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts and the more concentrated study “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America.” In the first, the NEA partnered with the United States Census Bureau to survey 17,000 Americans over the age of 18 regarding their participation in many categories of the arts (including but not limited to literary reading), while the second, more concentrated study “Reading at Risk” examined how frequently Americans are reading today in comparison to previous generations. Interestingly, it also demonstrated connections between reading and characteristics such as community involvement and job success. The Arts Education Policy Review summarizes the results of these and other related studies in their article “To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence,” which begins with a shocking statistic: only 56.6% of Americans surveyed said that they had read at least one book outside of work or school requirements during the previous year. Only 46.7% had read anything within the category of literature, defined by the NEA as works such as novels, short stories, plays, essays or poetry. To put it simply, fewer people are choosing reading as a form of entertainment or an avenue of gaining information, and even those who do read are spending less time doing so than their 1980s counterparts.

Should Americans be concerned that reading has decreased in popularity and is now only common among slightly more than half the population? In their article “Decline of Reading: An Overview,” Micah Issit and Kathryn Cook explain that, though most researchers who study the reading decline attribute the decreased interest in reading at least partially to the recent rapid development of technology, there is controversy as to whether the replacement of traditional reading with new technological advancements is a positive or negative change. W.E. Jacobs and Marlanda English, authors of “The Digital Revolution Has Reduced Reading Comprehension,” maintain that the function of reading is to tell stories or transmit information, but that in recent years new forms of media such as television and the Internet have superseded this role. Jacobs and English are of the view that a decrease in reading is unavoidable due to cultural changes, and furthermore is a progressive change because Americans are simply learning to gain access to information and entertainment in an unprecedented variety of forms. They speculate that, despite the initial differences in modes of information access and perhaps even the lack of cognitive engagement afforded by these new conveniences, the technology shift will not have negative long-term effects.

In opposition to this opinion are others such as Otis Kramer and Geraldine Wagner, whose article “The Decline of Reading in the U.S. Damages our Intellectual Life” protests that media is not a sufficient substitute for reading because the visual and auditory aspects allow the viewer’s brain to remain relatively passive rather than actively engaging in the mental processing that occurs while reading a book. Kramer and Wagner argue that, when the brain does not frequently engage in the cognitive process required for reading, proficiency and comprehension abilities are unable to grow. Therefore, they say that the less time an individual spends intentionally reading, the less likely he is to develop good literacy skills.

Statistically, research shows that Kramer and Wagner’s theory about the relationship of reading frequency to reading comprehension holds true. Not only are Americans reading less often, but they are also reading with a lower degree of skill. As the percentage of recreational readers continues to decline, reading comprehension scores are remaining the same or decreasing across nearly all age groups and education levels. According to “To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence—An Executive Summary” by the Arts Education Policy Review, the decline is most prevalent and most severe among young people between the ages of 15 and 34, who on average spend approximately 7-10 minutes per day on voluntary reading and whose comprehension scores reflect significantly decreased reading ability as compared with the same age group thirty years ago.

One particularly alarming statistic indicates that only one-third of today’s high school seniors are truly proficient readers. This is concerning because these are the students who are graduating and entering the workforce, where now 38% of employers rate their high school graduate employees as deficient in reading skills. Chuck Leddy, author of the article “The ‘Alarming’ State of Reading in America,” expresses concern over the NEA finding that one out of every five American employees today reads at a lower proficiency level than their job description requires. Leddy warns that as new generations of Americans enter the workforce without the reading skills needed for their individuals jobs, the economy as well as the American consumer will eventually suffer. Since young Americans are the most susceptible group to be affected by the long-term effects of the reading decline, we trace the roots of the loss of interest in reading back to early schooling years and examine how this trend could possibly be reversed. Where are the problems in the education system, and how might they be remedied?

Though initially it may seem that the best way to reverse the reading downfall is to examine the way students are being taught to read beginning in preschool, kindergarten, and primary grades, the NEA’s studies show that young children are the only age group not to be significantly impacted by the reading decline. For instance, the 9 year-old age bracket has not experienced a decrease in voluntary reading as compared to other age groups, and this group’s reading comprehension scores are at a record high. This demonstrates that the problem is not that children instinctively dislike reading, or that they are not developing any reading skills from the start, but rather that a shift in student interest and reading development occurs between the ages of 9 and 15. I believe that this is due to a lack of continued emphasis on reading as students reach upper elementary grades and beyond.

In his article “Can Reading Be Saved?”, Anthony Rebora from Education Week records his interview with Kelly Gallagher, a high school teacher for twenty-five years who firmly advocates education reform as a solution to the reading decline. Mr. Gallagher explains that, as children proceed into upper grades, the primary emphasis in schools today often becomes the various areas of testing students are subjected to…many teachers are teaching for the test rather than helping students truly learn the material, and the focus is on academic achievement rather than enjoyment of learning. He states, “I think what we are doing is selling out the long-term prospects of our kids becoming readers for the short-term pressures of raising test scores.” This is harmful to the student’s learning process, primarily because a student’s early exposure to and experience with reading shapes his lifelong view of reading by affecting his motivation for reading, his development in the areas of reading decoding, proficiency, and comprehension, and his self-concept and self-efficacy in regard to reading.

An individual’s school experiences from early childhood into high school determine how he will use certain academic concepts for the rest of his life. Reading is a lifelong consequential skill. Though reading is used daily in the classroom and for homework, students have different views regarding whether reading should be expected outside of school or work settings. Ulrich Schiefele, Ellen Shaffner, Jens Moller, and Allan Wigfield, authors of “Dimensions of Reading Motivation and Their Relation to Reading Behavior and Competence,” explain that students display either intrinsic, extrinsic, or both kinds of motivations for reading. Extrinsic motivation involves reading for the sake of earning or gaining something externally, whereas intrinsic motivation involves personal interest or desire to read merely for the sake of enjoyment or learning. In early grades, children are encouraged to develop both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for reading…for example, a child may be extrinsically motivated to read in order to receive a prize, to win the teacher’s praise, or to get a good grade, but may also be intrinsically motivated to read because he is interested in or captivated by the topic of his book. Gallagher explains that as students grow older, however, it becomes easier for them to lose intrinsic motivation for reading. He indicates that many students begin to see reading merely as functional or informational because, as they enter more advanced classes, they are less likely to be truly interested in the material they are required to read. The problem is that if pre-teens and teenagers are disinterested in the reading they must do and are not afforded the opportunity to explore genres that specifically interest them, many of them tend to view reading in general as an unenjoyable process and may be disinclined to develop an interest in recreational reading in the future. Gallagher proposes that a solution to this problem is for teachers in higher grades to incorporate student-focused reading into their programs alongside the traditional classic literature in a 50/50 ratio. For instance, he suggests having students read and discuss such recent popular works as The Hunger Games in addition to Romeo and Juliet because the primary objective of school should be to make learning enjoyable for students. I believe that Gallagher’s proposal would encourage student participation and interest in reading and spark an intrinsic desire to explore books based on the unique interests of the individual student.

In addition to motivation for reading, students also form their foundations for long-term reading skills through their school reading experiences. The article “Reading Skill Components and Impairments in Middle School Struggling Readers” explains that, after learning basic reading skills such as pronunciations and letter recognition, many students struggle in three common areas of reading as they advance to higher grade levels: decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Decoding is word recognition, or the ability to determine a word by looking at it. Decoding is one of the first skills needed for reading and usually builds on knowledge of phonetics. Though this may seem like the simplest part of reading, for students who do not spend frequent amounts of time reading during beginning stages or for students with learning disorders, decoding can be difficult. The next factor of reading is fluency, or the ability to combine the recognition of individual words into full sentences while maintaining a steady reading pace. In “Adolescent Reading Skill and Engagement with Digital and Traditional Literacies as Predictors of Reading Comprehension,” Lynne G. Duncan reveals that fluency is the connector or bridge between word recognition alone and comprehension. Reading comprehension is the ability to process the text, to understand it and grasp its meaning in context. Kelly Gallagher explains that, though these three factors are meant work in conjunction with one another, many students fall behind in one or more of these areas as they progress into higher grade levels. He further explains that many students who are not frequent readers develop “holes in their prior knowledge and background”; that is, they may be able to decode the words on a page and understand what a sentence itself is saying, but they are unable to grasp its application or context.

Why are these three factors of decoding, fluency, and comprehension important to the reading decline issue? I believe that part of the reason fewer Americans are reading well is that the educational system stops placing focus on the continuous development of these crucial skills once students reach middle and high school. Gallagher states that, by the time they reach high school classrooms like his own, many students are still reading very slowly, struggling with unfamiliar words, having difficulty making sentences flow together as a single thought, and are unable to “mentally analyze a text.” Even when students are able to read the words on a page, this skill alone is not helpful if they are unable to grasp the concept being discussed or glean the needed information from the passage. Many middle and high school teachers who do not specialize in reading are unable to understand why students struggle with assignments that involve reading for comprehension due to a deficiency in one of the foundational factors of decoding, fluency, or comprehension—and these teachers who are not trained in handling reading difficulties are often unable to help individual students in the ways they most need in order to be successful in school.  Consequently, students move from grade to grade with more and more gaps in their reading skills, which most of their teachers are not aware of, and the process of reading itself makes the academic process of school burdensome for many students. I propose that all middle and high school teachers, regardless of their subject specialization, be required to take reading classes as part of their teaching certification. This will equip educators to assist students with improving their overall reading skills in generic, practical ways that can then be applied to make students more successful in individual classes. If students were able to receive reading assistance at any grade level while likewise enjoying their learning rather than feeling pressured to perform for the sake of test scores, I believe both the percentage of students reading recreationally and the quality of reading ability would increase.

An additional way education plays a role in a student’s lifelong reading habits is the continued development of individual self-efficacy during the acquisition of reading skills. Ulrich Schiefele explains that self-efficacy develops gradually through a person’s various reading experiences, both as a result their feelings toward the activity as well as their ongoing evaluation of their own reading ability. Continued exposure to reading in school aids children in developing their sense of regard for the reading process; whether it is enjoyable, challenging, boring, interesting, difficult, etc., and this self-imposed attitude affects their desire to read for pleasure in the future. Self-efficacy usually involves a combination of the student’s perceptions of himself in the areas of reading development, motivation, and reading skills. For example, a person who lacks intrinsic motivation for reading and who has trouble with reading fluently or with comprehension is likely to have low self-efficacy; he may doubt his abilities as a reader and consider assignments involving reading comprehension to be overwhelming and stressful. The view of reading that children develop during their school years is the perspective that they will most likely hold throughout their lifetime. Therefore, if a student with low self-efficacy views reading as stressful or difficult because he reads slowly, as boring because he is not interested in the reading material, or as confusing because he cannot understand the point of what he is reading, then it is highly unlikely that he will develop an interest in recreational reading because he already associates reading with the emotion of frustration. If, on the other hand, a student is exposed to reading often, develops good literacy skills, and is intrinsically motivated to read for personal interest or enjoyment, he is more likely to read often and to be a more proficient reader than the student with low self-efficacy. Teachers play a vital role in the way students come to view the learning process and the way they perceive their ability to learn. I believe that training all teachers to assist with reading skills will provide the help students need, not just in elementary school but continuing throughout their academic careers. This will encourage a sense of high self-efficacy and will encourage students to continue reading outside the parameters of the classroom.

The rapid decrease of reading as a hobby and as a skill over the past 30 years is a concerning trend because of its implications for young adults. Though it is not possible to revoke the effects of the digital age on our society nor to remove the new technological options that threaten to take over print and books, we can seek to place a renewed emphasis on reading in our school systems by promoting reading as an enjoyable activity while permitting interest-focused alternatives in addition to traditional materials. Teachers play an invaluable role in encouraging the growth of reading skills and in building students’ confidence in themselves as readers. I believe that the key to making a difference in the reading trend is for school systems to design a curriculum that treats reading as cumulative process in which K-12 students build upon and improve their reading skills in the context of every class they take. If every teacher was trained to assist their students to grow in areas such as reading motivation, foundational skills for fluency, comprehension, and positive evaluation of the reading process, then student interest could be greatly revived in reading for pleasure. This would be beneficial not only for the sake of increasing students’ reading comprehension scores, but also would have positive effects over the long term as students develop the love of learning that prompts them to invest in reading outside the classroom. If the reading dilemma is not addressed at its basic source, however, the decline of reading will continue, and we could eventually see a gradual extinction of print materials, a downfall in the economy because of the number of employees who are unqualified for their jobs, and a significant decrease in Americans’ cognitive informational processing abilities.

(1). Bradshaw, Tom, et al. Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America. Research Division Report #46. National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, 01 June 2004.

(2). Cirino, Paul, pcirino@uh.edu, et al. “Reading Skill Components and Impairments in Middle School Struggling Readers.” Reading & Writing, vol. 26, no. 7, Aug. 2013, pp. 1059-1086.

(3). Duncan, Lynne G., et al. “Adolescent Reading Skill and Engagement with Digital and Traditional Literacies as Predictors of Reading Comprehension.” British Journal of Psychology, vol. 107, no. 2, May 2016, pp. 209-238.

(4). Issitt, Micah L., and Kathryn Cook. “Decline of Reading: An Overview.” Points of View: Decline of Reading, 3/1/2016, p. 1.

(5). Jacobs, W.E., and Marlanda English. “The Digital Age has Reduced Reading Comprehension.” Points of View: Decline of Reading, 3/1/2016, p2-2.

(6). Kramer, Otis, and Geraldine Wagner. “The Decline of Reading in the U.S. Damages Our Intellectual Life.” Points of View: Decline of Reading. 3/1/2016, p3-3. 1p.

(7). Leddy, Chuck. “The ‘Alarming’ State of Reading in America.” The Writer, no. 5, 2008.

(8). Rebora, Anthony. “Can Reading Be Saved?.” Education Week, Spring 2011 Teacher Sourcebook, p. 22.

(9). Schiefele, Ulrich, et al. “Dimensions of Reading Motivation and Their Relation to Reading Behavior and Competence.” Reading Research Quarterly, vol. 47, no. 4, Oct. 2012, pp. 427-463.

(10). “To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence–Executive Summary.” Arts Education Policy Review, vol. 110, no. 1, 01 Sept. 2008, pp. 9-19.