THE IMPACT OF READING 1
The Impact of Reading Below Grade Level on Students Both Academically and
Personally
Keneishia S. Jefferson
School of Education, Liberty University
THE IMPACT OF READING 2
Abstract
Scholars who have low literacy performance commonly perform poorly and lack engagement
when it comes to the learning process. This issue is one that haunts education each day and due
to the pandemic, it continues to be a trending topic. Aside from the pandemic there are other
issues that contribute to decline in reading abilities for scholars. Some examples are lack of
scholar engagement, absenteeism, home environment and lack of parental support. This paper
highlights low literacy and how it affects scholars academically and personally. As an educator
this is always a hard pill to swallow when reviewing data and deriving plans to best support
scholars in the classroom. Reading below grade level is not just a now issue, it is one that affects
scholars through all walks of life. Phonemic awareness, semantic comprehension, linguistic
depth, and rhetorical language development all play a vital role in a scholar’s ability to read and
dissect words.
Keywords: Literacy, low literacy levels, proficiency levels, illiterate, and poverty
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The Impact of Reading Below Grade Level on Students Both Academically and
Personally
A soaring level of literacy is critical to be successful in the world today. Knowing this
also lends itself to understanding, not everyone in society has the required literacy level to make
notable contributions to society. Low literacy performing scholars have trouble reading and
writing, which can affect their ability to improve reading comprehension and study techniques.
Inadequate reading abilities could contribute to a variety of areas in life, such as intellect, social
and financial. Knowing this, it is vital to understand the effect low reading proficiency has on
scholars throughout their educational journey and beyond.
When one thinks of reading proficiency, literacy is an essential piece of the puzzle. Not
only is it essential, but it is also a pivotal part of the elementary educational journey, future
educational journeys, and adulthood. Look at through these lenses, a scholar who attends school
at the secondary level must be knowledgeable about literacy basics while having meaningful
impactful conversations during their literacy classes. Knowing this is a vital part of day-to-day
life in today’s modern society, these scholars who struggle with reading and comprehension are
susceptible to poor performance on standardized assessments (such as MAP NWEA and
ATLAS) and struggle in academic potential. To help improve this gap parents need to
understand ways to help their scholars at home.
Further research shows that when a scholar is one who displays the inability to read at
grade-level, this leads to adults who live worldwide experiencing economic challenges. The
significance of reading low proficiency levels can be detrimental in various ways for concerned
individuals concerned and their communities as it relates to health, political, social, and
economic outcomes (International Review of Education, 2020).
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Definitions of Key Terms
1. Literacy – A continuation of learning and proficiency in reading, writing, and using
numbers throughout life. It is also using a large skill set, which include digital skills,
media reading and writing, education for sustainable development and universal
citizenship as well as job-specific skills (What You Need to Know About Literacy).
2. Low literacy levels – The limited ability to read, write, and comprehend written; used
to describe individuals who may struggle with reading and writing skills, but may
also have some basic literacy skills (What is Low Literacy?)
3. Proficiency Levels – What an individual can do with language in terms of speaking,
writing, listening, and reading in real-world situations in an unprompted and not
rehearsed context (Proficiency Levels).
4. Illiterate – Lacking the ability to read and write; having little or no education
(Merriam-Webster Online).
5. Poverty- The State of lacking an usual or socially amount of finances or material
ownership (Merriam-Webster Online).
Related Literature
Reading Fluency
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (White et al., 2020) the
latest oral reading fluency (ORF) study reflects fourth grade scholars who score below proficient
on the standardized assessments require interventions in word recognition, phonological
decoding, and fluency. Understanding the performance level of those same scholars goes a step
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above studying to recognize their strengths as well as challenges. Looking at scholars who score
below the basic are viewed through the lenses of deficiency (White et al., 2021).
Secondary school scholars are expected to read complex texts to acquire content
knowledge. This knowledge is specified in social studies, history, and science. If a scholar has a
disability, he is included in the mentioned classes, however he is reading below grade level,
requiring a vast amount of support with accessing text knowledge. Evidence-based practice can
be used by content teachers to best support scholars in reading complex text, this is also known
as question generation., it is called question generation. This high impact evidence-based
practice has shown that scholars’ reading comprehension increases when they apply this practice
while reading. No, it is not uncommon for teachers to face challenges when supporting scholars’
reading comprehension. When a scholar leaves elementary education and transitions to middle
school, content learning demands increase. There is a high focus on text reading related to the
content of social studies and science. During this exact time, scholars encounter an increase in
complex texts which is above their reading proficiency (Shanahan & Shanahan, 13). The
expectation is that scholars obtain text meaning, combine information across texts, and be
actively engaged in text-based discussions (National Governors Center for Best Practices &
Council of Chief State School Officers, 7).
Multi-Tiered Instruction
The No Child Left Behind Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, has
pushed many school systems to implement multi-tiered instructional models. One example of
this model is Response to Intervention, which means to execute research-based practices and
meet the needs of various learners. The successfulness of the multi-tiered framework begins with
establishing school-wide, high caliber general classroom instruction by fostering professional
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development in evidence-based instructional procedures along with classroom support from
instructional leaders, such as Tier 1 instruction (Fletcher & Vaughn, 2009).
Statistically the effectiveness of Tier 1 instruction shows that 80% of scholars will
respond to this instruction. After this percentage is successful, that leaves 20% that require Tier 2
or Tier 3 intervention (Vaughn & Fletcher, 20212). The expectation is that teachers
interchangeably use content area instruction with literacy practices, in both Common Core State
Standards and progressive state standards. During Tier 1 reading instruction is delivered in both
English language arts and other content areas.
Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension requires the construction of a reasonable mental representation
of the text information. There are three very important components in reading – the activity task,
the reader, and the text. During the simple view of reading principle, reading comprehension is
viewed as the product of both word sorting and listening comprehension. Decoding is known as
the ability to translate print to words. Listening comprehension is known as the ability to
understand spoken language meaning. The ability to understand what is read is a key ingredient
to reading at grade level.
Carroll (1967) conducted a large-scale study investigating collegiate graduating scholars.
The study was specific to proficiency levels of those scholars who majored in foreign language.
Rifkin (2005, 0. 4) highlighted that Carroll used the Modern Language Association (MLA)
Foreign Language Proficiency Tests for Teachers and Advanced Students. This is further known
as a norm-referenced four-skills battery of tests. Rifkin (2005) assessed proficiency in listening,
speaking, reading, and writing proficiency. There were 353 college participants. The study was
done during a summer program with a duration of 9 weeks. The span was over 3 summers, 2001-
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2003. The lowest proficiency level was for listening. It was followed by reading and speaking.
The highest was writing. After approximately 250 hours of prior instruction (this equates to two
years of college), Carroll’s study showed scholars were novice high to intermediate low in
listening and reading and intermediate low in speaking and writing.
Now, reading comprehension is one of the most challenging cognitive activities for
humans to engage in. Because of this challenge, there is also difficult to teach, measure, and
research. There have been decades of research as it relates to reading comprehension, both on a
national and international scale; reading scores are immobile growth for adolescents in the
United States of America. The ability to focus on these areas earlier in the stage of life is vital to
increase comprehension. An increase in comprehension helps with developing background
knowledge, vocabulary, inferring, and comprehension monitoring skills. Some keyways to help
with improving reading comprehension are as follows: bridge the gap are ensuring evidence-
based methods, ensuring that they are being used in classrooms; strengthening teacher
preparation programs along with professional development, to ensure that teachers are prepared
to use evidence-based methods, materials, and resources to meet the literacy and reading needs
of their students. It is vitally important for the classroom to be rich and robust with vocabulary
words that scholars can use in their everyday vernacular. This will add value to learning and
increase reading comprehension.
Everyone who plays a part in the lives of children, must all agree that for children to be
able to fully participate in society, being productive citizens, the ability to read is a must!
Reading is an act that is not natural. Adults who know how to read and write the alphabet
obviously know that spoken words are composed of sounds. Instruction related phonics is
important, in turn it is not believed that one is more common than the other. One of the best ways
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to guarantee that scholars will become good readers is to read to them frequently, this starts at
the infancy stage (0-1 year of age). Improving phonics instruction is another vital component to
improving reading. Phonics instruction teaches a child that the spelling of words encode the
phonemes by linking between letters or groups of letters and phonemes. Much research as it
relates to reading examined the connection between children’s ability to read and their cognitive
skills. Some examples of cognitive skills are memory, problem solving, communication and
critical thinking. Reading and working memory go interchangeably.
Looking at the achievement gap data between White and minority students have been
well documented. These mentioned gaps have continued to increase over time (National Center
for Educational Statistics [NCES], 2015). Further statistical data from NCES (2015), shows the
percentage of 12th-grade students who were considered proficient in reading was approximately
37%. In reading, the gap in proficiency was approximately 34% between White and Black
students. That same gap was approximately 11% between White and Hispanic students. Due to
this continuous gap all students on national base, up to 12th grade have outstanding implications
for post-high school study and vocational training. Furthermore, many of the mentioned scholars
who apply to 2- and 4- year collegiate institutions during their freshman year take remedial
courses. When this occurs the need to reach proficiency is a must before students will be allowed
to take courses for whom they will earn credits. Low reading levels may hinder a scholar’s
college dream. It could also result in college students having to utilize loans to pay for college,
which results in student debt. On the other hand, some students may never earn a degree due to
all the stress that comes with being in debt and having to maintain a certain grade point average
to proceed to credit earned courses.
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Social emotional learning (SEL) aspect of learning also impacts a scholar’s academic
success, especially that of reading. It demonstrates positive effects on the classroom culture
which contributes to classroom behavior and academic capabilities. Social emotional learning
tends to aim towards the enhancement of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral skills which build
on foundational academic performance. Scholars who are successful in developing core social-
emotional and behavioral competencies in the early stages (for example preschool) of their
academic journey are easier to navigate successfully from elementary to secondary education and
beyond. The Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning (CASEL) has identified
19 successful model programs. These programs display diligent evidence to enhance the
elementary journey for scholar’s social-emotional, behavioral, and academic success. Creating
classroom norms with scholars and ensuring they are posted as a visual reminder; they can be
words and/or pictures. Posting the classroom norms is a way to support the social-emotional
intelligence perspective. Rigorous evidence demonstrates that SEL programs can improve both
emotional support and help with organization in low-income elementary schools.
Learning Theory Association
Behavior theory is vital, the part of this theory that fits hand in hand with reading
proficiency is self-regulation. There are four self-regulatory processes: goals, self-efficacy,
values; strategy use, relaxation; self-monitoring, self-judgment; and environmental structuring,
help seeking. These teacher-focused processes are utilized to meet scholars where they are.
Scholars can be focused and can utilize these processes to improve reading proficiency in the
classroom, at home, and in society. Self-regulation is an important characteristic that scholars
must display in the classroom, this is non-negotiable. It is imperative for scholar engagement,
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scholar focus, and the ability to be an active listener. When a scholar can display self-regulation,
it helps with bridging the gap of reading below grade level.
Much research has shown that reinforcing contingencies improve academic performance
(Bandura, 1986), although it is not clear whether self-reinforcement is more functional than
externally administered reinforcement (such as given by the teacher). The knowledge that
researches lends self-reinforcement could improve academic performance, could help with
improving reading levels.
Gaps in the Research
Due to the growing number of scholars who are show a deficient in reading below grade,
this continues to be a trending topic for years to come. Multiple-tiered instruction and research-
based instruction are at the forefront of this concern, for this reason further research is still
needed. Because there are various types of learners, how they learn continues to evolve and the
ways to effectively teach them will continue to also evolve. Because there are many contributing
factors to a scholar’s ability to learn such as learning disabilities, whether developmentally
requires constant research to ensure that teachers are professionally sound to handle the task at
hand.
Biblical Worldview
The bible and the covering of God is essential in all walks of life. There was a time where
prayer in the educational system was practiced, and it was okay. In today’s educational system
prayer is something that could lead to human resource issues for an educator. God was a leader,
and he was viewed and judged by others. By no means are educators comparable to God, but
they too are considered leaders. They are shaping young minds, not just academically but
personally, it could be in a negative tone or a positive one.
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Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will
soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” This
verse is a reminder that as teachers, we need to fully and solely on God to provide us with the
strength and endurance needed to face and embrace any challenges that come our way
throughout the school year. Some of those challenges could include lack of scholar engagement,
redirecting scholar behavior, working with a difficult colleague, or even a new administrator who
is not willing to be realistic and logical.
God is the glue that holds people together especially when there appears to be no hope.
He is the voice in the back of that person’s head that says, “You got this, failure is not an option,
you will make it. I brought you to it, I will most definitely bring you through it.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, reading below grade level is a huge issue that affects all involved parties,
scholars, teachers, and parents. There are many contributing factors when looking at scholars and
why they are not proficient. As an educator, it is vital to understand each scholar and their
inabilities, deriving an individualized plan to best help with growth. Understanding that if a
scholar is struggling to read in the classroom, if he does not get the strategies needed to improve
in this area this could have a long-term affect on future academic journeys that could lead to
issues as an adult.
Literacy plays an important role in all aspects of life; without it one could face
immeasurable life issues. Yes, literacy is the ability to read and write, but it extends beyond that.
It is the continuum of learning and proficiency in reading, writing, and using numbers throughout
life and is part of a larger set of skills, which include digital skills, media literacy, education for
sustainable development and global citizenship as well as job-specific skills.
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