Why Is Reading Essential to Success?

Individuals are stronger when they are literate or able to read and write, and strong individuals can unite in creating strong families, communities, states, and nations.

In an article published at The Deseret News, the Center for the School of the Future (CSF) shared ideas that affect reading abilities in students. The Utah Legislature established the CSF at Utah State University “to collaborate with public education stakeholders to improve student academic outcomes.” 

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is serious about improving the reading performance of students in Utah. One of the ways to do so is to understand how essential it is to protect truth. Part of protecting truth is to identify “persistent myths about early reading and replacing them with what research shows.

Research shows that less than 50% of third graders in Utah can read on grade level (proficient). Other states could have similar or lower percentages of students who can read at grade level. This should be of critical concern for Americans because students have difficulty catching up later and reading skills are essential for academic success as well as success in life.

CSF shared the following information to show the importance of reading at grade level by the third grade.

Research provides a clear answer: Third grade reading proficiency is one of the strongest predictors of long-term academic, economic and life success. It marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” When students are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade:

·         Catching up becomes significantly more difficult.

·         Academic struggles increase in middle and high school.

·         Disengagement and disruptive behavior become more likely.

·         Dropout risk increases by roughly four times.

·         Long-term educational and career prospects decline sharply.

These are well-established facts. Yet several myths continue to obscure them.

Here we address five such myths currently occurring in public discussion about early reading. Others will undoubtedly emerge and must also be confronted over time.

Myth 1: Learning to read is natural.

Fact: Learning to read is not natural.

The human brain is not biologically wired to read in the way it is wired to walk or talk. The brain is wired to learn spoken language (talking and listening) without formal instruction. Reading is fundamentally different. Neuroscience shows that:

·         Humans were never wired to read.

·         A reading brain is neurologically different from a nonreading brain.

·         Reading requires the brain to reorganize and repurpose existing neural structures.

·         If reading were biologically wired, dyslexia and students who struggle to learn to read would not exist.

·         While a few children learn to read “naturally” without any instructions, most do not.

·         With high-quality instructions, 90-95% of children can learn to read.

Myth 2: Children learn to read simply by being read to or by reading on their own.

Fact: Most children must be taught to read through formal instruction.

Reading aloud to children is valuable – it builds vocabulary and shows that print carries meaning. However, it does not teach children how to decode written language. Only a very small percentage of children – less than 5% -- learn to read independently without instruction. The vast majority require explicit, structured and systematic teaching to become skilled readers.

 

Myth 3: Because Utah students perform relatively well on the fourth grade National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), students are doing well enough.

Fact: “Well enough” is not good enough.

Utah fourth graders outperform those in most other states on NAEP reading, but this is not cause for celebration. In 2024, only 36% of Utah fourth graders scored at the proficient or advanced level on NAEP. That means nearly two-thirds did not meet proficiency. If research shows that 90-95% of students can learn to read, then far better outcomes should be achievable. Indeed, some Utah school systems have already demonstrated trajectories that approach this goal.

Myth 4: Third graders who are not proficient readers are “illiterate.”

Fact: Illiteracy is a term for adults --  not children.

Labeling children as “illiterate” is inaccurate and counterproductive. Illiteracy refers to adults who cannot read or write. Children are learners. We do not label students who struggle with fractions as “mathematically illiterate” or those learning budgeting as “financially illiterate.” The accurate term is “nonproficient readers,” children who can read but are not yet meeting expectations.

Moreover, the word, “literacy” itself has become so broadly applied – financial literacy, health literacy, gardening literacy – that it has lost precision….

Myth 5: You don’t need strong reading skills to succeed today.

Fact: Proficient reading matters more than ever in the 21^st century.

Whether students attend college, pursue technical training or enter the workforce directly, strong reading skills are essential. They matter because:

·         Reading underpins all later learning.

·         Most jobs require interpreting complex texts and digital information.

·         Strong reading is linked to higher graduation rates, better health outcomes, lower incarceration rates and greater economic stability.

·         Civic life depends on citizens’ ability to read and understand complex documents – legal, medical, financial and governmental.

Early reading success matters profoundly. So does high-quality reading instruction and early identification of struggling readers. These arguments are not an indictment of teachers – nothing matters more to teachers than their students’ success….