US children are struggling with reading. Can communities help?
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Jackie Valley Staff writer
| Berkeley County, W.Va.
Casey Willson receives a celebrity welcome as he enters a classroom at Gerrardstown Elementary in March. His fans 鈥� kindergarteners smiling and waving 鈥� are waiting for the show to begin.
鈥淎re you ready?鈥� he asks.
鈥淵es!鈥� the children shout excitedly.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onAt a time when U.S. students are falling further behind in reading, volunteers in West Virginia are on a mission to reengage them. They are among those modeling the idea that building strong readers requires community, and a cultural shift.
It鈥檚 time for the big reveal. Mr. Willson 鈥� or Mr. Casey, as the kids call him 鈥� sits on a turquoise chair and holds up a picture book called 鈥淣igel and the Moon.鈥�
鈥淗ere we go,鈥� says the volunteer with Read Aloud West Virginia. 鈥淣ow, this is about what you want to do when you grow up.鈥�
With that, he opens the book and begins reading 鈥� adding sound effects, hand gestures, and occasional observations about the story. His audience, prone to fidgets during ordinary school hours, hangs on every word.
Getting children to engage with reading is a high priority in West Virginia and across the United States, where troubling results from the assessment dubbed the 鈥渘ation鈥檚 report card鈥� this year showed students continuing to fall further behind. In a country filled with struggling readers, the volunteer-led program Mr. Willson works with is one example of an approach that starts inside a classroom but is, very intentionally, meant to expand beyond those four walls. In other words, it takes a community 鈥� and a cultural shift 鈥� to develop strong readers.
鈥淲hen [Mr. Willson] shares his love of reading, it encourages them to go home and read with their parents or read to a young brother or little baby sister,鈥� says kindergarten teacher Patricia Edwards.
Learning beyond the schoolhouse door
The latest national test results, released in January, underscore the grim reality that many U.S. students simply aren鈥檛 good readers.
Average reading scores for fourth graders and eighth graders slipped again 鈥� by 2 points since 2022 鈥� on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. The decline continued a trend that began before the pandemic. Four out of every 10 fourth graders and a third of eighth graders are reading below the test鈥檚 basic level.
West Virginia students鈥� reading scores did not significantly change since 2022, though the state still trails the national average.
Many school districts in the U.S., including those in West Virginia, , an evidence-backed instructional method, to improve literacy skills. The Mountain State has also placed assistant teachers in early childhood classrooms, giving educators more time to work with small groups of students.
Ryan Saxe, superintendent of Berkeley County Schools in West Virginia鈥檚 eastern panhandle, says the goal is to develop 鈥減rolific readers,鈥� not just proficient readers. The district leader says his students aren鈥檛 there yet, but they are making strides 鈥� in part through help from the community.
鈥淟earning does not begin and end at the schoolhouse door,鈥� he says.
Creating a reading culture
Read Aloud West Virginia, which dates back to 1986, operates chapters in about 30 of West Virginia鈥檚 55 counties. One of its founders, Mary Kay Bond, started reading newspapers, magazines, and books to her baby son after being gifted 鈥淭he Read-Aloud Handbook鈥� by Jim Trelease.
Ms. Bond noticed her child鈥檚 vocabulary blossom. Research touts other benefits of reading to children, such as expanding their background knowledge and developing empathy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more than just reading,鈥� says Rebecca Deutscher, a senior research associate at the Language to Literacy Research Lab at Stanford University鈥檚 Graduate School of Education. 鈥淚t allows engaging in conversations and questions.鈥�
Today, roughly 1,000 volunteers 鈥� retirees, lawyers, parents, Air National Guard members, and a woman who reads books in braille 鈥� visit classrooms across the state each week. They鈥檙e not there to teach students how to read. Instead, it鈥檚 about nurturing excitement.
Dawn Miller, the organization鈥檚 executive director, likens the strategy to athletic traditions. In West Virginia, she says, many children grow up cheering for Marshall University鈥檚 or West Virginia University鈥檚 sports teams for a simple reason: Parents, grandparents, or other adults have modeled loyalty to the home squads.
鈥淭hose activities become important in our culture,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o Read Aloud says, 鈥楴ow, let鈥檚 do the same thing around books and reading.鈥欌��
The group鈥檚 effort includes two key ingredients that correlate with student success: It places volunteers in schools and more books in the hands of children.
The organization is on track to distribute more than 1,200 鈥渂ook bundles鈥� 鈥� five books on a topic that interests a student 鈥� by the end of this school year, says Ms. Miller. It鈥檚 a newer aspect of Read Aloud鈥檚 mission, made possible through grants and other donations.
鈥淭he kids were over the moon,鈥� she says of the book bundle deliveries. 鈥淚t was like Christmas morning.鈥�
Much of the organization鈥檚 feedback is anecdotal. An educator in Ripley, a rural and lower socioeconomic area near the Ohio River, recently sent Read Aloud a letter sharing information about students鈥� academic growth after a book bundle delivery. Tonia Carpenter, principal of Fairplain Elementary School, noted the percentage of third graders reading at or above grade level, per a benchmarking test, rose from 59% at the beginning of the year to 87% midyear.
鈥淓xposure is the key for these students and this type of reading was a perfect match,鈥� Ms. Carpenter wrote.
The latest NAEP data suggests it could help move the needle on academic achievement. Reading test scores for fourth graders climbed in relation to the number of books students reported having at home.
The number of volunteers present in a school appears to have a similar effect on students鈥� reading scores. (The survey question, however, did not delineate the type of volunteer work being performed.)
Volunteers say the benefits run both ways.
On a recent morning, Bob Fleenor finishes reading 鈥淏ecause of Winn-Dixie鈥� in a fifth grade class. The students applaud. And one, Tyler Marshall, announces, 鈥淲e鈥檙e a bunch of book nerds!鈥�
It鈥檚 the type of response that motivates readers like Mr. Fleenor to keep coming back.
The retired newspaper reporter still remembers the thrill of one of his teachers reading 鈥淭he Secret Garden,鈥� a book he may not have taken an interest in otherwise. He hopes to evoke that same surprise and delight among the students who now listen to him read stories plucked from his personal collection of children鈥檚 chapter books, most of which he didn鈥檛 grow up reading.
鈥淭he interesting and diverse voices and subject matter which we鈥檝e seen in the last half-century is amazing,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e had to bring ourselves up to speed.鈥�
Books at bedtime
Seven-year-old Rhett glides her pink-painted fingernail under each word as she reads aloud to her mother, Deanna Linden. She sounds out words such as 鈥渁sparagus,鈥� 鈥減istachio,鈥� and 鈥渢angerine,鈥� needing barely any help.
The book was a birthday gift. She鈥檚 proud to show visitors a heavily stocked bookcase in her bedroom.
鈥淪ometimes I might fall asleep with the book on me,鈥� Rhett says, describing her bedtime reading habits.
Her daughter鈥檚 enthusiasm puts Ms. Linden, who grew up in a home where education wasn鈥檛 emphasized, at ease. She never wanted her reading struggles to affect her children. But Rhett started coming home from school, especially after 鈥淢r. Casey鈥� visited her classroom, wanting to devour books.
鈥淚t makes me happy,鈥� says Ms. Linden, who also doesn鈥檛 force it. She wants her daughter to retain the joy of reading without feeling obligated to do so.
Mr. Willson feels the same way when he hears about the carry-over effect at home. Pulling on research and his many years working in the business world, he has crafted an elevator pitch about the importance of reading. What鈥檚 good for children, he says, is also good for West Virginia and the nation at large.
鈥淚n today鈥檚 world, there are a lot of changes that need to be made,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd the most fundamental tool in anybody鈥檚 toolbox is literacy.鈥�
