Literacy news
New report suggests lack of challenge in children’s reading
8 Mar 2013
A new report into the reading habits of over 300,000 students in more than 1,600 UK schools has suggested a lack of challenge in children’s reading is leading to children opting for ‘easier reads’ beyond Year 6.
The fifth annual ‘What Kids Are Reading’ report, authored by Professor Keith Topping and published by Renaissance Learning, found that while students in Year 3 (aged 7 and 8) are reading books with an average reading age of 8.8, almost a year above their actual age, Year 9 students (aged 13 and 14) are reading books with an average reading age of just 10, up to four years below their actual age.
Despite this, the report shows that when young people do read challenging books, they tend to enjoy them more and understand them better. When comparing the most popular (as voted for by students) and most read titles across Years 1 to 7, the books in the most popular list are generally of a greater level of difficultly than those most read.
