The Effects of School-Wide Independent

Reading Programs

Courtney W. Samuelson
ECI 541
North Carolina State University
April 27, 2013

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Introduction
The 21st century world is full of texts: the printed word, digital texts, aural texts, visual texts,
media, and information and communication technologies (Vacca 7-8). Reading has come to mean
making sense of, understanding, and synthesizing any of these texts (Vacca 7). For most of their lives,
students will need to read and access these texts silently or independently. Unfortunately, more and
more adolescent students, especially from high-poverty schools, lag behind in their reading abilities, and
the United States as a whole is being outperformed by many other countries around the globe in terms of
reading and academic performance (Slavin 1391). The crisis is at its height at the middle school level;
for according to National Assessment of Education Progress surveys and National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES), the majority of US students in 8th grade have, at best, only basic levels of literacy
(Vacca 12). However, this begins at the elementary school level, for those who succeed in becoming
fluent, strategic, and joyful readers in elementary school are better on their way to becoming successful
members of society (Slavin 1391). Adding to the crisis is the fact that numerous studies have shown that
students are not reading independently at home (Anderson 285). Thus it is up to the schools to create
programs to promote independent reading, reading achievement, and to foster a love and joy for reading
in students at the elementary and middle school level. A robust school-wide independent reading
program increases students' reading comprehension levels and academic achievement.
Research
The pivotal long-term goal of reading instruction should be that students are prepared to become
accomplished life-long readers, and life-long readingin secondary school and college, and then out in
the real worldentails being able to read silently and independently (Graves). Thus, teachers should
be responsible for requiring students to read silently and independently, and independent reading should
be the kind of reading students are doing the most often in class (Graves).
Numerous studies have shown that more reading leads to better reading (Sanden 223). In one
study, Taylor, Pressley and Pearson (2000) uncovered that students in the most effective and moderately
effective schools spent more time independently reading than did students in the least effective schools
(Sanden 223). Another study from the 2009 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) reports
that fourth-grade students who reported reading five or fewer pages per day scored lower on a reading
assessment than those students who read more, and students who read for fun almost every day
outperformed those who read less frequently (Sanden 223).
Reading independently at school is important, but equally important is promoting independent
reading outside of school at home. A 1988 study by Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding analyzed the at-

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home activities of 155 fifth grade students from a variety of income levels. Their study revealed truly
staggering differences between children in terms of performance based on the amount of out-of-school
reading they did (Anderson 296). What they found is that the students who read at home significantly
outperformed their non-at-home-reading counterparts on a reading assessment of vocabulary, speed, and
fluency. Students who scored in the 98th percentile on the assessment were reading on average 90
minutes per day, while those who scored in the 30th percentile were only reading 5.8 minutes per day on
average (Anderson 292). Put a different way, the student in the 90th percentile spends nearly five times
as many minutes per day reading books as the child at the 50th percentile, and over 200 times as many
minutes per day as the child and the 10th percentile (Anderson 296). The study concluded that the
amount of time a child spent reading books is related to the childs reading level in the fifth grade as
well as growth in reading proficiency from the second to the fifth grade (Anderson 302).
Methods
Schools must be very thoughtful and purposeful when implementing school-wide programs.
Merely knowing that more reading increases achievement, and then telling students to go ahead and read
independently for an allotted amount of time, is not enough. In fact, simple programs that just ask
students to read on their own, like SSR (Sustained Silent Reading), have proven to not be very
effective, especially when used in isolation (Sanden 223). School leaders must sit down with teachers in
a meaningful staff development session and allow them to analyze their students current performance
and identify specific needs. From there, teachers should use this data and students needs to set goals
and determine objectives that need to be taught through the reading instruction curriculum (Sanacore
347). Then, teachers should create a program that focuses on (1) guided independent reading, (2)
behavior support, (3) student growth, (4) student accountability, and (5) reading instruction (Sanden
226-228). This will look different for different schools and age groups. However, these five
components are absolutely critical for a successful program, and teachers and school leaders should
flesh out how they will implement each one.
In an article for Exceptional Children, Kent McIntosh identifies three other key factors in
implementing a successful school-wide program: staff commitment and buy-in, staff use of data, and
capacity building (coaching, technical assistance, etc.) The researchers found that teacher team use of
data was by far themostimportantfactorinsustained,successfulimplementationofa[schoolwide]
program,withcapacitybuildingcominginsecond(McIntosh297).Teachersmustfirstassesswhere
theirkidsare,andthenusethisdatatodeterminewhatkindofreadinginstructiontheywillneed.Staff
willthenneedtositdownandplanouthowtheywillinveststudentsinreadingandaloveforbooksby

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exposingthemtoawidevarietyofbookswhilealsosupportingchildrenwithreadinginstruction.From
there,teachersneedtodevelopalargeandvariedclassroomlibrarythatconsistsofawidevarietyof
booksappealingtodifferentreaderinterests,includingdiversegenresandbooksondifferentreading
levels(Sanden231).Next,teachersandstaffshouldholdstudentsaccountableforreadingthroughthe
useofschoolwidereadinglogsthatparentswillhavetosign,writingbookreports,ortakingonline
quizzesthroughaprogramlikeAcceleratedReader.Withtherightkindofinvestmentandmotivationin
place,holdingstudentsaccountablewouldnottakethejoyoutofreading(Sanden231).Finally,Sanden
alsosuggestsnotholdingchildrenbackfromtalkingaboutwhattheyreadandquietlyengagingwithone
anotherabouttheirtextsinanappropriatemanner,sinceyoungchildrenwillnaturallydesiretodothat
anditcanenhancetheircomprehension(Sanden231).
There are a large variety of programs for schools to choose from to implement a successful
independent reading program. School leaders might designate a time in the day in which all students are
independently reading, with teachers actively conferencing and checking in with students. Other
schools might choose to use the very popular program Accelerated Reader, a computer-based tracking
system that over 50,000 schools and over 400,000 teachers and librarians use across the country
(Goodson 4). Still other schools are using a Million Words Campaign to track independent reading and
encourage students to read one million words independently within a year (www.millionwords.org).
None of these programs is perfect or should be used in isolation; independent reading must be used in
conjunction with reading instruction, guided reading, group reading, partner reading, and discussion.
Independent reading is only a small part of the reading instruction occurring on the whole school level.
A Case Study
A successful independent reading program at Henderson Collegiate Academy in Henderson,
North Carolina, shines a light on the effectiveness of independent reading programs. Henderson
Collegiate is a public, lottery-based charter school in rural eastern North Carolina. It opened its doors in
the summer of 2010 to 100 4th grade students, and has since added one grade level per year, making it
currently a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade school with 295 students. 85% of the students qualify for free or
reduced-priced lunch, and the students are 95% African American or Hispanic
(http://hendersoncollegiate.org). Literacy instruction is at the heart of the school, as the students core
classes include Fiction, Nonfiction, Writing, Science, and Math, along with a remedial guided reading
block. Because literacy is so important, they also implement a robust independent reading program that
utilizes Accelerated Reader. At the beginning of the year, the faculty and school leaders sit down with

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every single parent to explain the importance of independent reading and how the students and parents
will be held accountable. Nightly, all students in the school must read for twenty minutes, as shown by a
reading log signed by their parents. Furthermore, students also read independently for fifteen minutes
daily at the beginning of their Fiction classes. During this time, the teacher circulates around the room
conferencing with each student. In a typical fiction classroom during independent reading time, one
would observe teachers saying things like, You have been reading that book for awhile now. Do you
need to pick out a new book? or, What do you think of the characters in this book? How do you
relate to them? or, I know you love that seriesyoull probably be done with this one by Thursday!
Students also use this time to take Accelerated Reader quizzes.
Carise Sanchez, the Academic Facilitator, Literacy Coach, and Vice Principal of the school,
knows about the many arguments against Accelerated Reader, as she shared in an interview. Many
people complain that the STAR reading assessment test offered by AR is not comprehensive because
there is no oral reading or written component to it (Biggers 73), and Ms. Sanchez agrees. Because of
this, Henderson Collegiate does not utilize the STAR test to measure reading levels and instead uses the
Development Reading Assessment (DRA) for their younger students, and the Teachers College Reading
Assessment for their older students. These are two of the best tests offered for educators, because they
measure reading fluency, comprehension, decoding, and analysis, thus giving teachers a truly
comprehensive picture of students current levels and growth. Ms. Sanchez also addressed the
counterargument that AR promotes reading only to get a reward, and the fact that research shows that
students dont demonstrate a true desire to read once the reward is taken away (Biggers 73). To help
prevent this, the school makes it a priority to teach students why reading is importantin school, in life,
in their futuresand that the rewards offered through AR are just a way to measure progress. Teachers
take time to emphasize to students the value in reading and that the rewards and points are not the end
goal. The school still does a whole lot to celebrate reading successthey have charts outside of every
classroom tracking students growth, number of words read, and spotlighting certain students. The
students also enjoy parties and other rewards when they reach certain benchmarks. Ms. Sanchez admits
that her fourth graders got hooked into reading initially because of the allure of earning points, but by
the time the students were in sixth grade, they had really internalized why reading is important and have
grown a love for reading outside of earning AR points. Accelerated Reader is thus used as a measuring
and tracking tool, not as the end-all, be-all to reading instruction.
One way this love of reading is developed at the school is through the creation of a culture of
reading. Not only are the students reading inside and outside of the school, but is clear that teachers
and staff are reading, too. There are diverse classroom libraries in every classroom. On the fiction

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teachers white boards, one would observe things like, See what the math teacher recommends! with a
book displayed underneath it. During one class, Ms. Sanchez even popped into the room to express her
enthusiasm about a young adult novel she had just read. The students see that their teachers are readers,
and when everyone is this excited about reading, that enthusiasm is contagious.
The results of the independent reading program as well as the overall emphasis on literacy
demonstrate the programs effectiveness. The schools current fourth graders were only 49.4% proficient
on their 3rd grade reading EOGs when they begin attending Henderson Collegiate. After a year at the
school, 71.9% of the students were proficient in reading according to the End of Grade test, a growth of
22.5% in one year. The 2012 scores are even better: the schools fifth graders, who have been at
Henderson Collegiate for two years now, have grown from 46.2% proficient when they first enrolled in
fourth grade to 87.9% proficient on their 5th grade EOGs, which shows 26.1% growth and is 15.6%
above the state average, 72.3% (http://hendersoncollegiate.org). Clearly the independent reading
program and literacy instruction is very effective at this school and can set an example for other schools.
Conclusion
My research on this issue has affirmed the beliefs I already possessed about independent reading
and given me ideas for my instruction next year at my K-8 school. As both a 7th grade fiction teacher at
my school next year and the Academic Dean in charge of all middle grades reading teachers, I will have
an influence over the schools independent reading program. After I visited Henderson Collegiate with
my colleagues at my current school, we have decided to adopt many of the practices they are using. For
example, we have changed our classes so that students will have both a Fiction and Nonfiction class, we
are adopting Accelerated Reader, and we are investing parents and students in a school-wide
independent reading program. My goals are to get staff buy-in through effective professional
development on how to implement the program, and then work on supporting staff in investing students
and parents in the importance of daily independent reading. As a classroom teacher, I will also work to
promote a culture of reading within my classroom by sharing recommendations, providing better books
in my classroom library in a more organized way, and conferencing with students daily about what
theyre reading and what AR quizzes they are taking. We plan to use AR in the way that Henderson
Collegiate does, which is merely a means to an end--a measuring tool to track reading growth and books
read, the end being growing lovers of reading; not as an end itself. I look forward to implementing the
independent reading program and watch our students grow into hungrier, more talented readers.

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Works Cited
1. Anderson, Richard C., Wilson, Paul T., Fielding, Linda G. (1988). Growth in Reading and How
Children Spend Their Time Outside of School. Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp.
285-303. http://www.jstor.org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/stable/pdfplus/748043.pdf.
2. Biggers, Deborah (Sep., 2001). The Argument against Accelerated Reader. Journal of Adolescent
& Adult Literacy, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 72-75.
3. Goodson F., Tardrew, S., Kerns, G., Pavonetti L., and Cipielewski, J. (Sep., 2003). Accelerated
Reader: Lasting Effects. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 4-7.

4. Graves, Michael F. and Bonnie B. (2003). Scaffolding Reading Experiences: Designs for Student
Success, 2nd Ed. Christopher-Gordon.
5. McIntosh, K., Mercer, S., Hume, A., Frank, J., Turri, M., and Mathews, S. (2013). Factors Related
to Sustained Implementation of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support. Exceptional Children, Vol.
79, #3, p. 293-311. http://cec.metapress.com/content/v062875460165216/.
6. Sanacore, Joseph (1988). Schoolwide independent Reading: The Principal Can Help. Journal of
Reading, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Jan., 1988), pp. 346-353. International Reading Association.
http://www.jstor.org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/stable/40031897.
7. Sanden, S. (2012). Independent Reading: Perspectives and Practices of Highly Effective Teachers.
The Reading Teacher, 66 (3), 222231. doi: 10.1002/TRTR.01120.

8. Slavin, R., Lake, C., Chambers, B., Cheung, A. and Davis, S. (Dec., 2009). Effective Reading
Programs for the Elementary Grades: A Best-Evidence Synthesis. Review of Educational Research,
Vol. 79, No. 4 pp. 1391-1466.
9. Vacca, R., Vacca, J., and Mraz, M. (2011). Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the
Curriculum. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

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