Why Reading Matters: Social Mobility
We're all going on a summer holiday - but how will we spend it?
Today’s post is a natural extension of a recent one on in which I highlighted the story of Ben Carson, who went from ‘dummy’ to doctor, and credits books as his secret sauce.
The Summer Reading Setback
I first became aware of the idea of a ‘Summer Reading Gap’, reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers.1
A quick summary; the data suggests that poor kids and rich kids start out with roughly similar reading scores in school term-time, but in the summer holidays there is a dramatic shift. When they return, rich kids’ reading scores have jumped up (by 15%+) and poor kids reading scores have dropped.
When it comes to reading skills, poor kids learn nothing when school is not in session… Virtually all of the advantage that wealthy students have over poor students is the result of differences in the way privileged kids learn while they are not in school.2
The reading score gap between rich and poor kids can grow from 1 to 3 years over their schooling, leaving poor kids at a severe disadvantage when they emerge from education.
Gladwell surmises that wealthy kids are presented with a range of cultivating activities over summer holidays (summer camp, special programs, museums, reading books at home), while poor kids don’t have money to go to camp, and don’t have books lying around. Instead, they might spend a (nevertheless enjoyable) carefree summer doing things that don’t contribute to their maths or reading scores, like playing outside or watching TV (or, nowadays, TikTok).
The solution touted by Gladwell is essentially increased school time. Longer school days, and longer terms (summer break is shortened by three weeks), reflecting something closer to the East Asian school system (Japanese kids go to school around 240 days per year compared to US kids at 180 days per year). He cites the example of KIPP, a school operating in a poor area of New York that has trialled this approach with disadvantaged children and seen fantastic results.
I don’t disagree at all with the premise of updating our approach to education to flip the script for disadvantaged students, though it’s an area that others are far more qualified than me to discuss.
However, the research does pose further questions for the Storygram project to consider, such as;
How can we better provide for disadvantaged children to grow in their reading over their summer holidays?
Does the provision of quality books to poorer households do enough to encourage children to read more? Is more motivation or accountability needed for them to read the books they own (especially in the absence of adults promoting reading)?
How can we help children who are left to their devices all summer by overworked/overstretched parents in poor households?
How can we motivate children (from all backgrounds) to choose reading when presented with endless entertainment options on their devices?
Big challenges, but worthy ones to consider.
I believe reading has the power to help children break free of societal chains they were born into, especially those born into poor households. Learning to read, and enjoy reading, is an especially valuable gift for these children, as it presents them with hope for the future.
Thanks for reading, and please do reply to the email or leave a comment on Substack with your thoughts — I’m keen to hear from you.
For additional reading on this, I recommend Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Chapter 9: ‘Marita’s Bargain’
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell, p258
It's not just summer holidays. Giving kids a reason to read (or heaven forbid, even write) for pleasure all year round would have a big impact. I think it has for ours.