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Children who read books daily score higher in school tests, vast new study states:
What children choose to read outside school directly influences their academic performance, according to a major new study led by the University of Malaga and UCL, and published in the peer-reviewed journal Oxford Review of Education.
Using longitudinal census data to look at more than 43,000 students, aged 10 to 11 and then again when they were 13 to 14, the research provides substantial evidence that pupils who enjoy reading high-quality books daily score higher in tests.
The average marks of pupils who read books rose by 0.22 points overall, which is the equivalent of 3 months' worth of additional secondary school academic growth.
The study demonstrated no similar advantage for children's reading daily newspapers, comics or magazines, and only marginal benefits from short stories.
The findings have important implications for parents, teachers and policymakers, and the international research team is recommending that young people devote their reading time solely to books.
"Although three months' worth of progress may sound comparatively small to some people, it equates to more than 10% of the three academic secondary school years measured—from when these young people are aged 11 years old to 14, which we know is a hugely developmental period," explains co-author Professor John Jerrim, from the UCL.
"In an increasingly digital world, it's important that young people are encouraged to find time to read a good book.
The author does note however,
The findings of this study should be interpreted in the context of some limitations and the need for further research. These include the research being carried out in one particular region within Spain, and the focus upon academic progress made during the early teenage years. At this point, reading skills are already quite well-developed—there is no data for younger children.
John Jerrim, Luis Alejandro Lopez-Agudo & Oscar D. Marcenaro-Gutierrez (2020) Does it matter what children read? New evidence using longitudinal census data from Spain, Oxford Review of Education, DOI: 10.1080/03054985.2020.1723516
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Booga1 on Saturday February 29 2020, @02:40PM
For a famous author inspired by those pulp sci-fi stories, check out the back cover of the dust jacket [abebooks.com] for Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov.
I would say the best option is to find what the kid will read, anything at all. Do your best to steer them, but get them to read something that will keep their interest the whole way through. Something that gets them to think about things they wouldn't normally think about is a bonus. Even if that means starting out with simple stuff like The Mouse and the Motorcycle, perhaps one day it will lead to I, Robot [wikipedia.org] and bigger stories with deeper subjects to think about.