Rewarding reading

There is no clear evidence that rewarding children for reading works: Studies that claim to show that rewards work do not isolate the effect of rewards from other factors. In the case of Accelerated Reader, studies compare the effect of Accelerated Reader, which includes rewards, tests, adding more books to the environment, and providing time to read, to business-as-usual. We already know that improving the print environment and providing time to read improves reading. If there is a gain, it is likely that this was the reason why (Krashen, 2003, 2005 )

There is also reason to suspect that rewards can have long-term damaging effects. If we provide an extrinsic reward for an activity that is intrinsically pleasant, we are telling children that the activity is not pleasant, that nobody would do it without a bribe (Kohn, 1999). There have been no long-term studies of Accelerated Reader or other reward programs.

The real problem: access to books

Perhaps the most serious problem with current literacy campaigns is that they ignore, and even divert attention from, the real problem: Lack of access to books for children of poverty.

Access and poverty

Research consistently shows that children who live in low-income neighborhoods have little access to reading material in their public libraries, in their schools, and at home. After investigating access to reading material in different neighborhoods, Neuman and Celano (2001) concluded that that " ... children in middle-income neighborhoods were likely to be deluged with a wide variety of reading materials. However, children from poor neighborhoods would have to aggressively and persistently seek them out" (p. 15).

If more access leads to more reading, and if more reading leads to better reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and a larger vocabulary (for overwhelming evidence, see Krashen, 2004), this means that the first step any literacy campaign needs to take is to make sure children have access to plenty of books.

Libraries!

In my opinion, the place to focus is the library, both the school and public library. Studies show a positive relationship between library quality (school and public) and the amount read, as well as a relationship with reading competence. Better libraries mean more literacy development for younger readers as well as for high school students.

We know a great deal about how to encourage reading when books are present. Successful approaches include read-alouds, models (seeing others read), providing some time in school set aside for reading, and, under certain circumstances, direct encouragement (Shin, 2003). But the first step is to provide access to reading, and the clearest way to do this is by improving library holdings and staffing.

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