All You Need is Read

A new report says that nearly half of kids read for less than 15 minutes per day. No skill is more essential to students than reading. Every other domain of learning plays off our literacy abilities. If students are strong readers, everything else gets easier. If they are weak readers, everything gets more difficult. Reading is also a skill that needs to be practiced. We would not expect a football team that practices for fewer than 15 minutes each day to be very good. Students in band are expected to practice with their instruments for twice that long to hone their musical skills. And yet, according to data in the 2019 What Kids Are Reading report (https://www.renaissance.com/wkar/), nearly half of our students read for less than 15 minutes a day. This lack of practice translates to lower vocabulary acquisition, lower reading growth, and, eventually, students who are not ready for college or their careers.
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