Support for Sustained Silent Reading
Here's what the Calkins book says:
"Krashen (1996) also reviewed research showing that students in silent sustained reading programs make very strong gains in reading comprehension if the program lasts long enough. He tells about a 1975 study of sixth grade boys by Greanney and Clark; the boys participated in a free reading program in their school for a year. Six years later later these students were reading more than comparison students."
And this:
"Krashen (1996) cites forty other studies of sustained silent reading. In thirty-eight of these, sustained silent reading students equalled or outperformed traditionally taught comparison students on tests of reading comprehension. Krashen writes, 'Results were even more positive for longer-term studies (longer than seven months).'"
And finally:
"Furthermore, studies have shown that when children read a lot, their grammar, spelling, writing, vocabulary, and general knowledge as well as their reading all become stronger. Stephen Krashen (1997) summarizes the research on this topic and says, 'Good scores come from the flashlight-under-the-blanket phenomenon.' He adds, 'This is the Nancy Drew meets the Hardy Boys on Fear Street method of teaching reading.'"
Krashen cites:
(1996) *Every person a reader: An alternative to the California Task Force Report on Reading*. Culver City, CA: Language Educaiton Association
(1997) When whole language means real reading it does well in method comparison studies. Manuscript submitted for publication.
An ERIC search produced abstracts of these studies which detail SSR techniques and results:
EJ508183 -- Describes a sustained silent reading program in a 9th-grade
reading
class of 60 students, most of them at-risk students. Finds that, on average, students improved 3.9 grade levels in their reading.
EJ496132 -- Describes how Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading has been successfully incorporated into college reading classes with developmental learners as an authentic method of assessing and improving students' attitudes toward reading. (SR)
EJ473064 -- High school English as a Second Language (ESL) students in a
16-week
sustained silent reading program showed gains in reading comprehension, reported greater frequency and enjoyment of reading, and utilized more sources of books. Results suggest that free reading is an effective means of literacy development with ESL students.
ED365953 -- Proceedings of 1993 Asian Reading Conference at which one presentation was on "Implementing and Maintaining a Sustained Silent Reading Program in Secondary Schools"
Email: kglee@webtv.net
