The Barack Bump

A Word from Malbert Smith III, Ph.D., MetaMetrics President

While 2008 certainly was a year that no one would like to repeat from a financial perspective, we, as educators, should be proud of our efforts to raise student achievement in our nation’s classrooms. I applaud all teachers and policymakers who have viewed the steady decline in our country’s literacy rates as a “call to reading” and, in response, have dedicated the time and resources necessary to instilling in our students the importance of developing strong reading skills. The good news is that these efforts are making a difference!

For 25 years, the federally-funded National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has conducted an annual survey of Americans’ reading habits. Unfortunately, the results consistently have demonstrated that reading in our nation has been on the verge of becoming an endangered skill. In fact, the decline in reading by American citizens has been so severe over this timeframe that if reading was a species it would have been granted federal protection under the Endangered Species Act!

This month, however, NEA reported that, for the first time since the survey’s inception in 1982, the number of adults who said that they had read a novel, short story, poem or play in the past 12 months had gone up—rising from 47 percent of the population in 2002 to over 50 percent in 2008. According to the survey results, almost every demographic and ethnic group is reading more. Most remarkable of all has been the increase in reading by African-Americans and Hispanics (up 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively). In fact, the number of young men aged 18–24 who reported reading a book rose 24 percent between 2002–08. We all should be optimistic that these statistical gains are pointing to a reversal of what historically has been a negative trend in American’s reading habits.

I believe this bump in reading can be attributed, in part, to the recent election of President Barack Obama. His historic campaign and election captivated the nation and the world. A constant champion of education, President Obama continues to stir each of us through his printed and spoken words (his book, “The Audacity of Hope,” topped the “New York Times” Non-Fiction Best Seller List for several months from 2006–07). In doing so, he has inspired all Americans, particularly minorities and the impoverished, to have the “the audacity to hope” for more in both their personal and professional lives. What Sputnik sparked in American education more than 50 years ago, President Obama once again has ignited today.

So let’s take a minute to applaud ourselves and our new administration for what may be a resurgence in recognizing the value and necessity of literacy. I, like so many of you, remain confident that we are back on track to truly becoming a nation of readers.

This letter includes data from “Reading on the Rise,” available at www.arts.gov/research/ReadingonRise.pdf.

LearningLink is published bi-monthly by MetaMetrics, Inc., an educational measurement company based in Durham, N.C. The company develops scientifically based measures of student achievement that link assessment with instruction, foster better educational practices, and improve learning by matching students with materials that meet and challenge their abilities. MetaMetrics developed the widely adopted Lexile Framework for Reading; El Sistema Lexile para Leer, the Spanish-language version of the Lexile Framework; The Quantile Framework for Mathematics; and The Lexile Framework for Writing. Contact the editor.

MetaMetrics®, the MetaMetrics logo and tagline, Lexile®, Lexile Framework®, Lexile Analyzer®, the Lexile logo, Quantile®, Quantile Framework® and the Quantile logo are trademarks of MetaMetrics, Inc., and are registered in the United States and abroad. The trademarks and names of other companies and products mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Copyright © 2009 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved.