The Older Students Get, The Less They Read For Fun

Kyle Stokes / StateImpact Indiana

Students read "Of Mice and Men" in an Indianapolis high school English class.

“Here’s a bit of data that confirms what we already suspect,” Jill Barshay writes at The Hechinger Report, pointing to federal statistics showing fewer than one in five 17-year-olds report reading on their own time daily.

While daily reading among teens have slipped significantly in the past three decades, 9-year-olds are reading as much as ever — more than half report reading for fun every day.

NAEP / USDOE

The National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) results show 19 percent percent of 17-year-olds report reading for fun daily, on their own time. (Compare that to more than half of all 9-year-olds.)

The data came with the results of the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), the test that allows education policymakers to compare students’ academic performance over time. Barshay continues:

The decline in reading matters. According to NAEP, the kids with the highest test scores in reading also report reading the most. For example, 17-year-olds who say they read for fun almost every day scored 11 percent higher, on average, than 17-year-olds who admit that they don’t read for fun. Among nine year olds, those who say they read for fun almost every day scored almost 9 percent higher than those who admit that they don’t read for fun.

Reading is of critical importance to Indiana’s 9-year-olds. Third graders have to pass a test of their reading skills before moving to the fourth grade. Those who don’t pass risk being held back.