Reading Nightmares :: essays papers

Reading Nightmares Reading nightmares exist at many different levels. There are nightmares at the national and state levels. There are nightmares within the field of reading education, and with teachers across all subject areas. This is a key point in the article â€Å"Exploring reading nightmares of middles and secondary school teachers† by William P. Bintz. At the national and state levels, research indicates that students experience a declining interest and slowing development in reading from the seventh grade on (Farr, Fay, Myers , & Ginsberg, 1987). They â€Å"demonstrate gains in reading during the early years, these gains seem to taper off in the middle and upper grades, and decline during the high school years.† (Chall 4) Many studies give strength to this argument that reading nightmares occur nationally. They show that students have difficulty with tasks requiring interpretations of what they read, that students do little, if any, reading in school and for homework, and that there is a decline in reading skills amongst 12th graders. (Bintz 13). Goodland (1984) believes that this problem may exist because of the relationship between time spent on reading instruction and the decline in reading abilities. He points out that â€Å"reading occupies only approximately 6% of class time in elementary school, 3% in junior High school, and 2% in senior high school. â€Å" (p 106-107). It is noted that 8th grade students watch TV, on average, almost 22 hours per week. They read for less than 2. (Humphrey 23). Reading instruction, as a field of study, is also ripe with nightmares. Too often, educators make assumptions about reading and its’ instruction. These include â€Å"(a) Reading instruction is primarily, if not exclusively, the role of elementary, not middle and secondary school teachers; and (b) reading is an isolated skill; once mastered in the elementary grades students require no further instruction.† (Bintz 14) As Burnett is keen to show, these attitudes are changing, but slowly. Teachers on the secondary level are still hesitant to get involved in reading instruction. They see themselves as teachers of content. But, perhaps, as Summers states, maybe the content area teachers are hesitant because they, along with many language arts teachers, aren’t properly trained to provide reading instruction. Regardless of content area, all teachers are seeing the same nightmares.