problem solution essay

Our Children Can’t Read

Is Bowen County’s population less intelligent than it used to be?

When I first saw headlines such as “Reading Scores Rise in State, Not in

Bowen County” or “State Reading Scores Rise Three Points in Five

Years, Bowen County Scores Stagnate,” I was tempted to answer, “Ye s . ”

These reading scores, so widely reported in the newspaper and on

television, are based on reading tests given to third- and fifth-grade

students. The scores in Bowen County are, in fact, slowly impro v i n g ,

but they are still lagging behind scores in the rest of the state. Our child

ren are not less intelligent than children in other counties; however,

they might need help in increasing their motivation. Fortunately, simple

solutions such as “book buddy,” adult/child literacy, library outre a c h ,

and high school volunteer-tutor programs can help put our children on

the road to reading re c o v e r y.

What has caused this stagnation in reading abilities? Some

educators cite statistics on the lengthening workweek and suggest that

p a rents just don’t have as much time to read to their children as they

used to. Still other educators point to an increase in the number of

Bowen County students who were not held out of the reading tests.

This year, more students with exceptional education needs were tested

than in previous years.

Whatever the reason, it seems that children who don’t see others

read and who don’t read themselves aren’t very likely to realize the value of reading. This does appear to be the case in Bowen County.

Interviews with twenty local elementary-school teachers indicate that

many of Bowen County’s young children today are not very intere s t e d

in learning to read. If a lack of role models and experience is partially

responsible for our students’ declining reading abilities, then what

solutions are possible within our existing institutions and their

o v e r b u rdened budgets? Fortunately, there seem to be several re l a t i v e l y

inexpensive remedies that might help solve the pro b l e m .

To provide more models of readers for young children, all the

Bowen County schools could adopt the “book buddy” program. The

p rogram works like this: each kindergarten and first-grade class is

p a i red with a fifth- or sixth-grade class. Then, each younger child is

p a i red with an older one. Once a week for thirty minutes the two

classes meet, and the “book buddies” spend time reading and talking

about books of their own choice. This program gives the younger

c h i l d ren additional reading role models, and it gives the older childre n

an important sense of self-esteem as well.

M a rginally literate and illiterate parents might also become re a d i n g

role models for their children. Our library, which already sponsors a literacy

program, could expand its services to include an adult/child literacy

p rogram like one already operating in Indiana, Pennsylvania. A c c o rd i n g

to a recent School Library Journal article, volunteer tutors in this program

are trained to help parents learn to read with their children. Once a week parents meet one-on-one with a tutor at the library and learn to

read one easy-reading book. Then, during the last fifteen minutes of

class, each parent reads this book to his or her child or childre n .

Many literate parents are too busy to read regularly for pleasure

and don’t serve as reading role models for their children. Ms. Atkins, the

reading specialist at Culvert Elementary, urges them to find other ways

to be role models for reading. For example, she suggests that pare n t s

read recipes or directions aloud to children while fixing meals. Or, parents

might read washing instruction tags aloud while sorting laundry.

C h i l d ren with more reading role models will also gain more re a ding

experience. To create additional reading opportunities, the library

could modify and extend its services. For example, it could begin an

o u t reach program for day-care facilities and providers. Rather than hold

story hours only in the library, librarians could regularly visit day-care

sites for story hours. In addition, the library could begin a special

p rogram for home day-care providers, creating specially pre p a red boxes

of age-appropriate books for them to check out. Furthermore, if the

library does begin a parent/child literacy program, the children of

p a rents in the program could attend a story hour during the time their

p a rents are being tutore d .

Experts say that children who lack role models in reading and

experience with reading also need extra instruction in reading skills.

Using high school volunteers as tutors would help solve this pro b l e m . High school students who have at least a C average could volunteer

for thirty minutes each week, during their study hall or lunch period.

Asurvey of two hundred high school students indicates that eighty

p e rcent of them would volunteer. And most of the elementary school

teachers in the county are enthusiastic about the prospect of more

v o l u n t e e r s .

T h e re is a growing gap between Bowen County’s reading score s

and those of the other counties, but we can begin to close that gap by

motivating our children to read. The solutions aren’t drastic. Adopt a

“book buddy” program. Set up an adult/child literacy program. Cre a t e

a library outreach program. Create a high school volunteer-tutor

p rogram. These programs cost almost nothing and ask of us only our

time. The children of this county are its most precious re s o u rc e .

P rograms such as these might help us preserve that re s o u rc e .

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