The Dumbest Generation (8 page)
Read The Dumbest Generation Online
Authors: Mark Bauerlein
The youngest age group in ATUS, 15- to 24-year-olds, covers people in high school and high school dropouts, college students and college graduates, those who never enrolled in college and those who dropped out. The category thereby mixes individuals of wholly different circumstances. To a 24-year-old, a 16-year-old lives in another universe entirely, whereas a 43-year-old regards a 36-year-old’s world as pretty much the same as his own. Fortunately, other surveys provide more tailored reading numbers for the younger ages, and in recent years they have revealed deeper and darker intellectual profiles of the rising generation.
One report compiled National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data on reading for the last few decades to chart long-term trends in academic performance and contexts. Entitled
NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress: Three Decades of Performance in Reading and Mathematics,
the study reviewed 36 years of the existence of NAEP to measure academic scores and track them through various demographic groupings and out-of-school experiences. NAEP is best known for the annual test scores it publishes, and those results have assumed crucial significance for schools and teachers in the wake of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, whose legislation ties funding to what is termed Adequate Yearly Progress, which is measured by test scores. But another aspect of NAEP included in the report examines “Contextual Factors Associated with Reading,” one of them being “reading for fun.” At each extreme, an astonishing shift took place. The percentage of 17-year-olds who “Never or hardly ever” read for fun more than doubled from 1984 to 2004, 9 percent to 19 percent. Over the same period, the percentage of 17-year-olds who read for fun “Almost every day” dropped by 9 points. Nearly half of high school seniors (48 percent) read for fun “once or twice a month or less.”
NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress: Three Decades of Performance in Reading and Mathematics,
the study reviewed 36 years of the existence of NAEP to measure academic scores and track them through various demographic groupings and out-of-school experiences. NAEP is best known for the annual test scores it publishes, and those results have assumed crucial significance for schools and teachers in the wake of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, whose legislation ties funding to what is termed Adequate Yearly Progress, which is measured by test scores. But another aspect of NAEP included in the report examines “Contextual Factors Associated with Reading,” one of them being “reading for fun.” At each extreme, an astonishing shift took place. The percentage of 17-year-olds who “Never or hardly ever” read for fun more than doubled from 1984 to 2004, 9 percent to 19 percent. Over the same period, the percentage of 17-year-olds who read for fun “Almost every day” dropped by 9 points. Nearly half of high school seniors (48 percent) read for fun “once or twice a month or less.”
The numbers mark an elemental turn in youth literacy, and it can’t be accounted for by more reading in class. A few pages earlier, the report charted homework by pages assigned. The percentage of students who had to complete more than 20 pages per day went from 21 percent to 23 percent from 1984 to 2004, and those assigned 16 to 20 pages jumped only one point (14 to 15 percent). Neither figure comes close to matching the leisure reading slump.
While leisure reading doesn’t reflect in-class reading trends, it may bear directly upon reading comprehension scores. Despite all the attention showered upon reading skills ever since the landmark report
A Nation at Risk
and the rise of the standards movement in the 1980s, reading comprehension scores for high school seniors haven’t budged. Fourth-graders show significant improvement and eighth-graders display some progress as well, but through middle school the gains taper off, and by the end of high school the trend flattens. This is an unfortunate pattern, and it calls out for investigation. Indeed, another large longitudinal survey, the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research’s
Changing Times of American Youth: 1981-2003,
unveils the same pattern. The questionnaire asked about leisure reading for 6- to 17-year-olds, and a disappointing number came up for 2002-03: only 1 hour and 17 minutes per week. There was an optimistic sign, we should note, because that total beat the 1981-82 total by eight minutes. The optimism disappears, however, when the group is broken down by age. On an average weekend day, while six- to eight-year-olds jumped from 9 to 14 minutes, 9- to 11-year-olds from 10 to 15 minutes, and 12- to 14-year-olds from 10 to 13 minutes, 15- to 17-year-olds reversed the gains entirely, dropping from 18 to 7 minutes.
A Nation at Risk
and the rise of the standards movement in the 1980s, reading comprehension scores for high school seniors haven’t budged. Fourth-graders show significant improvement and eighth-graders display some progress as well, but through middle school the gains taper off, and by the end of high school the trend flattens. This is an unfortunate pattern, and it calls out for investigation. Indeed, another large longitudinal survey, the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research’s
Changing Times of American Youth: 1981-2003,
unveils the same pattern. The questionnaire asked about leisure reading for 6- to 17-year-olds, and a disappointing number came up for 2002-03: only 1 hour and 17 minutes per week. There was an optimistic sign, we should note, because that total beat the 1981-82 total by eight minutes. The optimism disappears, however, when the group is broken down by age. On an average weekend day, while six- to eight-year-olds jumped from 9 to 14 minutes, 9- to 11-year-olds from 10 to 15 minutes, and 12- to 14-year-olds from 10 to 13 minutes, 15- to 17-year-olds reversed the gains entirely, dropping from 18 to 7 minutes.
The
NAEP Trends 2004
includes other data comparisons that echo the implication that leisure reading is a significant factor in academic progress. The report relates reading for school and reading for fun to test scores, and a consistent pattern appears.
NAEP Trends 2004
includes other data comparisons that echo the implication that leisure reading is a significant factor in academic progress. The report relates reading for school and reading for fun to test scores, and a consistent pattern appears.
• 17-year-olds who read for fun almost every day scored 305
• 17-year-olds who read for fun once or twice a week scored 288
• 17-year-olds who read more than 20 pages per day for class scored 297
• 17-year-olds who read 16-20 pages per day for class scored 293
The more kids read out of school
and
in school, the higher their scores. Observe, too, that the test score differences between heavy and light out-of-class readers exceed the differences between heavy and light in-class readers. The gap between the highest and next-highest out-of-class readers is 17 points, while the gap between the highest and next-highest in-class readers is only four points. The results also set the gap between the highest and lowest out-of-class readers at 37 points, and between the highest and lowest in-class readers at 29 points. Because the measurements of reading for school and reading for fun don’t use precisely the same scale (pages read vs. frequency of reading), we can’t draw hard-and-fast conclusions about their respective effects on reading scores. But these discrepancies indicate that leisure reading does have substantial influence on school performance, much more than one would assume after listening to public and professional discourse about reading scores, which tend to focus on the classroom and the curriculum, not on the leisure lives of teens.
and
in school, the higher their scores. Observe, too, that the test score differences between heavy and light out-of-class readers exceed the differences between heavy and light in-class readers. The gap between the highest and next-highest out-of-class readers is 17 points, while the gap between the highest and next-highest in-class readers is only four points. The results also set the gap between the highest and lowest out-of-class readers at 37 points, and between the highest and lowest in-class readers at 29 points. Because the measurements of reading for school and reading for fun don’t use precisely the same scale (pages read vs. frequency of reading), we can’t draw hard-and-fast conclusions about their respective effects on reading scores. But these discrepancies indicate that leisure reading does have substantial influence on school performance, much more than one would assume after listening to public and professional discourse about reading scores, which tend to focus on the classroom and the curriculum, not on the leisure lives of teens.
Yet another high school project providing reading data is the annual
High School Survey of Student Engagement
(HSSSE), housed at Indiana University. With a sample size of 80,000 high school students in all four grades, HSSSE boasts one of the largest national databases gauging school experiences and academic habits. It asks students about sports, clubs, homework, coursework, and leisure activities including reading. In 2005 one question asked, “About how much reading do you do in a typical 7-day week?” Fully 77 percent said that they spend three hours or less per week on “personal reading. ” In 2006, the question changed slightly, but showed equally abysmal results. About one in six students logged zero hours of “Reading for self” per week, while 40 percent scored less than an hour. Only 5 percent surpassed 10 hours. When it came to “Reading/ studying for class,” only 2 percent exceeded 10 hours, and 55 percent came in at one hour or less. More than half the high school student body, then, spend few moments reading because they have to or because they want to.
High School Survey of Student Engagement
(HSSSE), housed at Indiana University. With a sample size of 80,000 high school students in all four grades, HSSSE boasts one of the largest national databases gauging school experiences and academic habits. It asks students about sports, clubs, homework, coursework, and leisure activities including reading. In 2005 one question asked, “About how much reading do you do in a typical 7-day week?” Fully 77 percent said that they spend three hours or less per week on “personal reading. ” In 2006, the question changed slightly, but showed equally abysmal results. About one in six students logged zero hours of “Reading for self” per week, while 40 percent scored less than an hour. Only 5 percent surpassed 10 hours. When it came to “Reading/ studying for class,” only 2 percent exceeded 10 hours, and 55 percent came in at one hour or less. More than half the high school student body, then, spend few moments reading because they have to or because they want to.
Another segment of the survey, one querying attitudes, helps explain why. Once again, time and money play no part in the withdrawal. Fully 45 percent of the students just don’t think leisure reading is important (“a little” or “not at all”). Unconvinced of what adult readers feel deep in their hearts and know from long experience, nearly half of the student body disregards books by choice and disposition, and they don’t expect to suffer for it. In their minds, a-literacy and anti-intellectualism pose no career obstacles, and they have no shame attached. Uninterested in reading and unworried about the consequences, kids reject books as they do their vegetables, and the exhortations of their teachers fall flat. A quick glance at a newspaper once a day would augment their courses in government, a subscription to
Popular Science
magazine might enliven their chemistry homework, and an afternoon browsing in the public library might expose them to books they find more compelling than those discussed in class. But those complements don’t happen.
Popular Science
magazine might enliven their chemistry homework, and an afternoon browsing in the public library might expose them to books they find more compelling than those discussed in class. But those complements don’t happen.
We might assume that the weaker and alienated high school kids pull down the average, and that seniors and juniors headed for college display better attitudes and higher reading rates. But three large national surveys of college freshmen say otherwise, drawing the bibliophobia up into the more ambitious ranks. In January 2007, higher education consulting firm Noel-Levitz released its
National Freshman Attitudes Report,
a 100-question survey of students who’d just entered college. The 97,000 freshmen who completed the questionnaire expressed the optimism and determination one would expect from young adults in a new phase of life. Nearly all of them (93.6 percent) pledged to finish college “no matter what obstacles get in my way,” and 88.8 percent intended to “make the effort and sacrifice that will be needed” to attain their goals. Their enthusiasm, however, doesn’t correspond to the reality that only 46.9 percent of entering students graduate within five years. Another portion of the survey shows why. It includes measures of their reading interest—or recoil. To the statement “I get a great deal of satisfaction from reading,” 53.3 percent disagree. And to “Over the years, books have broadened my horizons and stimulated my imagination,” 42.9 percent disagree. Fully 40.4 percent concur with “I don’t enjoy reading serious books and articles, and I only do it when I have to,” while 39.6 percent admit that “Books have never gotten me very excited.”
National Freshman Attitudes Report,
a 100-question survey of students who’d just entered college. The 97,000 freshmen who completed the questionnaire expressed the optimism and determination one would expect from young adults in a new phase of life. Nearly all of them (93.6 percent) pledged to finish college “no matter what obstacles get in my way,” and 88.8 percent intended to “make the effort and sacrifice that will be needed” to attain their goals. Their enthusiasm, however, doesn’t correspond to the reality that only 46.9 percent of entering students graduate within five years. Another portion of the survey shows why. It includes measures of their reading interest—or recoil. To the statement “I get a great deal of satisfaction from reading,” 53.3 percent disagree. And to “Over the years, books have broadened my horizons and stimulated my imagination,” 42.9 percent disagree. Fully 40.4 percent concur with “I don’t enjoy reading serious books and articles, and I only do it when I have to,” while 39.6 percent admit that “Books have never gotten me very excited.”
Significantly, the questions don’t distinguish between in-class reading and personal reading, which means that two-fifths of the entering class can’t recollect a single book assigned by others or chosen by themselves that inspired them. Furthermore, the survey showed that students in four-year private institutions profess book interests not much more than those of students in community colleges. Wealthier students enroll in the former, but higher-income households don’t produce proportionately higher reading rates. Even though the bulk of their undergraduate training will involve “serious books and articles,” a sizable portion of both student populations detests them and reads them only under command. The connection between general intellectual interest and academic performance doesn’t register. Students aim high, but the attitudes undercut them and they don’t seem to realize it.
The annual
American Freshman Survey
duplicates the findings for leisure reading rates, and because it dates back to 1966 it allows for longitudinal comparisons. To the question “During your last year in high school, how much time did you spend during a typical week reading for pleasure?” freshmen in 2005 answered as follows: “None” at 24.8 percent; “Less than one hour” at 26.1 percent; and “1-2 hours” at 23.8 percent. Add these three lowest times, covering 0-2 hours per week, and you get three-quarters of the entering class (74.7 percent) that reads outside of school for less than 17 minutes per day. Unbelievably, one-quarter of high school graduates who’ve gone on to college never read a word of literature, sports, travel, politics or anything else for their own enjoyment or illumination. But the percentage of students answering “None” has held steady for several years. In 2001, the figure was roughly the same. The big change happened in the seven years before 2001, when the trend shifted sharply downward. The “None” category rose from 19.6 percent in 1994 to 24.8 percent in 2001, a jump of 26 percent. The “Less than one” category went from 25.4 percent to 27.4 percent. In fact, every group slid downward. At the same time, during the 1990s, enrollments in higher education jumped 9 percent, with more high schoolers following loftier ambitions, but the intellectual habits that would sustain them on campus went the other way.
American Freshman Survey
duplicates the findings for leisure reading rates, and because it dates back to 1966 it allows for longitudinal comparisons. To the question “During your last year in high school, how much time did you spend during a typical week reading for pleasure?” freshmen in 2005 answered as follows: “None” at 24.8 percent; “Less than one hour” at 26.1 percent; and “1-2 hours” at 23.8 percent. Add these three lowest times, covering 0-2 hours per week, and you get three-quarters of the entering class (74.7 percent) that reads outside of school for less than 17 minutes per day. Unbelievably, one-quarter of high school graduates who’ve gone on to college never read a word of literature, sports, travel, politics or anything else for their own enjoyment or illumination. But the percentage of students answering “None” has held steady for several years. In 2001, the figure was roughly the same. The big change happened in the seven years before 2001, when the trend shifted sharply downward. The “None” category rose from 19.6 percent in 1994 to 24.8 percent in 2001, a jump of 26 percent. The “Less than one” category went from 25.4 percent to 27.4 percent. In fact, every group slid downward. At the same time, during the 1990s, enrollments in higher education jumped 9 percent, with more high schoolers following loftier ambitions, but the intellectual habits that would sustain them on campus went the other way.
With high school doing less and less to inspire off-campus reading, we can still hope that higher education sparks young people’s curiosity once they’ve departed the stultifying social climate of senior year. The
National Survey of Student Engagement
asks dozens of questions about in- and out-of-class habits and goals, and one of them queries students about their book reading “for personal enjoyment or academic enrichment.” Here are the results for number of books read for 2003 and 2005.
National Survey of Student Engagement
asks dozens of questions about in- and out-of-class habits and goals, and one of them queries students about their book reading “for personal enjoyment or academic enrichment.” Here are the results for number of books read for 2003 and 2005.
The low rates suggest that for a majority of college students intellectual life belongs mainly to the classroom. Perhaps freshmen spend too much of their leisure time adapting to campus life, searching for ways to fit in and find themselves, choose a major and envision a career, not create a bedtime reading list. But the reading rates don’t get much better as they approach graduation. For young Americans who’ve passed through six semesters of coursework to receive a liberal arts education at a cost of up to $200,000, the gains here seem a disappointing improvement. If 81 percent of freshmen in ’03 read four books or fewer in a full year’s time and seniors lowered that dreary figure to only 74 percent, one wonders why college courses didn’t inspire them to pick up books at a faster rate. Does campus social life dampen their inquisitiveness, dividing what they do in class and what they do at night cleanly into the pro-studious and anti-studious? Has the undergraduate plan become so pre-professionalized that the curriculum functions as a high-level vocational training that dulls the intellectual curiosity that encourages outside book reading? Perhaps the rise of business as the most popular major signals a new careerism among undergraduates, a loss of interest in general education. Maybe many of the best and brightest students aim for medical and law school, not the humanities, and the competition for graduate admissions leaves them little energy to read on their own.
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