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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday February 29 2020, @11:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the reading-is-fundamental dept.

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


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 01 2020, @08:05AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 01 2020, @08:05AM (#964828)

    Being able to figure out the conformance that the test is demanding is part of being intelligent, and recognizing that getting good grades is important socially is also part of being intelligent.

    Neither of which actually requires much intelligence at all, as demonstrated by the hordes of moronic Jeopardy! geniuses our disastrous schooling system churns out.

    Being rebellious is not in and of itself a sign of intelligence.

    Correct.

    I'm sorry to break it to you, but if you can't figure out the answer that the test is expecting, in almost all cases, it's because you're not intelligent.

    But here's the key: The tests are so poorly designed that even being able to answer the questions correctly does not mean you even remotely comprehend the subject. So while someone being unable to answer the questions almost certainly means they don't understand the material, being able to answer the questions does not necessarily mean - and, indeed, frequently does not mean - that you do understand the material. Not encouraging critical and innovative thinking is a mistake.