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ERIC Number: ED619516
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Does Reading during the Summer Build Reading Skills? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in 463 Classrooms. Working Paper 20689
Guryan, Jonathan; Kim, James S.; Quinn, David M.
National Bureau of Economic Research
There are large gaps in reading skills by family income among school-aged children in the United States. Correlational evidence suggests that reading skills are strongly related to the amount of reading students do outside of school. Experimental evidence testing whether this relationship is causal is lacking. We report the results from a randomized evaluation of a summer reading program called Project READS, which induces students to read more during the summer by mailing ten books to them, one per week. Simple intent-to-treat estimates show that the program increased reading during the summer, and show significant effects on reading comprehension test scores in the fall for third grade girls but not for third grade boys or second graders of either gender. Analyses that take advantage of within-classroom random assignment and cross-classroom variation in treatment effects show evidence that reading more books generates increases in reading comprehension skills, particularly when students read carefully enough to be able to answer basic questions about the books they read, and particularly for girls. [Metametrics Inc. provided additional support for this report.]
National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 2; Primary Education; Grade 3
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Innovation and Improvement (ED), Investing in Innovation (i3); Wallace Foundation; Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation; Harvard University, Graduate School of Education
Authoring Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Identifiers - Location: North Carolina
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Iowa Tests of Basic Skills
Grant or Contract Numbers: U396B100195
What Works Clearinghouse Reviewed: Does Not Meet Evidence Standards