The present study measured the comprehension-based silent reading efficiency of U.S. students in grades 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Students read standardized grade-level passages while an eye movement recording system was used to measure reading rate, fixations (eye stops) per word, fixation durations, and regressions (right-to-left eye movements) per word. Eye movement recordings were regarded as valid only if students demonstrated a comprehension level of at least 70% after reading a passage and answering a series of true/false questions. Reading rates increased over grades, with two exceptions: (a) between grades 6 and 8, growth in reading rate appeared to plateau; and (b) between grades 10 and 12, reading rate increases were seen only among students in the upper two quartiles. Changes in the other three efficiency measures reflected similar patterns of reading efficiency development over grades. The reading efficiency of students in this study was also compared with that of a sample of students from 1960, using norms reported by Taylor (1965) and validated by Carver (1989). Comprehension-based silent reading rates in grade 2 were comparable across the 50-year span, but the cross-grade growth trajectory was much shallower in the present study than it was in 1960. These results suggest that present-day students may not achieve the same level of word-reading automaticity as did their 1960 counterparts.

“The present research adds to an ample body of evidence suggesting that the reading proficiency of students in the U.S. is declining. The majority of our high school graduates lack adequate reading proficiency and have little experience with the sorts of challenging text they will face in postsecondary educational settings.”

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When students must devote much of their attention to the process of reading, e.g., laboriously decoding words and deciphering word meanings, they are likely to have difficulty sustaining the level of attention that reading with good comprehension requires. These students are also likely to miss out on what motivates readers—being entertained, inspired and/or learning from what they read.

This study examined relationships between reading efficiency, reading comprehension, and reading motivation in a large national sample of students who had engaged in Reading Plus during the 2015-16 school year.

Study Design:

Students were divided into reading rate quartile groups based on their reading rate as measured by the InSight assessment, and using reading rate norms established for each grade in a national study of U.S. students (Spichtig et al., 2016). Students’ reading comprehension grade levels and reading motivation were also measured by the InSight assessment (see InSight Technical Brief for more information).

Key Results:

Comprehension grade levels varied significantly across reading rate quartiles. In all grade groups, students in higher quartiles (who read more efficiently) achieved significantly higher comprehension grade levels.

Reading interest also varied significantly across reading rate quartiles. In all grade groups, students who read more efficiently reported significantly higher levels of reading interest.

Reading self-efficacy (i.e. self-perceived reading competence) followed the same pattern as above. In all grade groups, more efficient readers reported higher levels of reading self-efficacy.

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This paper reviews research on the development of silent reading habits and examines instructional practices that can lead to good reading efficiency and strong comprehension. The authors argue that what can be accomplished in digital contexts, such as instantaneously adjusting scaffolds and text difficulty in response to student performance, allows for “precision in scaffolding that is difficult to achieve in a classroom setting or even a tutoring one.”

“The fact that the yearlong gains made by the primarily low achieving students in this silent reading intervention were substantially larger than the mean overall gains at the state and district levels is noteworthy.”

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