The Correlation of Reading Outside School and Reading Proficiency

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between time spent reading outside of school and reading proficiency, as measured by the Reading Comprehension component of the California Achievement Test. The underlying philosophy of this research stressed that the best way to develop reading ability is to provide abundant opportunity for experiencing reading. The research was conducted at a small, rural school in western New York State. As part of the recreational reading program, Book-It!, students were required to record the amount of reading they did outside of school each day for five months. The students' reading proficiency was determined using the grade equivalency score obtained on the Reading Comprehension subtest of the California Achievement Test (C.A.T.), which was part of the research site's district-wide yearly testing. These numbers were then statistically analyzed to determine the predictive relationship of time spent reading outside of school and reading proficiency, as determined by the Reading Comprehension subtest of the C.A.T. The results of this study indicate that there is no relationship between the number of minutes a student spends reading outside of the classroom and his reading proficiency. There does appear to be a strong educationally important difference in the amount of growth shown on the Reading Comprehension subtest of the C.A.T. and the number of months a student chooses to participate in a recreational reading program.