5% Reading Comprehension

@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
May 22, 2011 12:29am CST
Teachers, if your high school had a 5% average reading comprehension, what would you do to try to bring up the average?
2 people like this
4 responses
@smartie0317 (1610)
• United States
2 Jun 11
I would look into finding a tutor. Some students need more help and attention than others. Maybe this student needs some more one on one attention. With increasing class sizes, teachers can't always focus on just one student. If you look, there are places where you can get a free tutor. The school may offer free tutoring services.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Jun 11
This isn't one student, this is 95% of the high school students in the system.
• United States
2 Jun 11
That's horrible.
• Canada
29 May 11
Kids need to do anything to get them reading. Not saying high school is too late, but the rebellious years is a bad time to start getting kids to do anything difficult! If the kids had been failed this bad, I would do anything to motivate them to read--including assigning RPG style video games, which have a lot of narrative (plot, character development, and everything) and often take place in well-developed settings with rich histories full of references to various religions and mythologies. Many of these games require a high level of reading comprehension to advance, but they are packed with action that will keep a kid's attention.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
29 May 11
Great idea!!
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
23 May 11
Well, I'm not a teacher but I come from a family of them. By highschool if the kids only have a 5% average reading comprehension then a lot of teachers and their parents have failed them. That is just sad. Parents should read to their kids every night. I love books and my dad read to me every night until I could read myself. I could not wait to learn to read. That being said, ability to read and comprehension are two different things. As avid of a reader as I am, I have to say that if I am not interested in something, then I can read it and I'm bored and nothing really sinks in. Inspiration is everything. Take History. I always found it so so boring in highschool. I passed it even though I slept through most of the classes. I 'd read and memorize enough to pass a test or quiz. I hated it. I can look back and say...it was the teachers. Now, I come across people who are interested in a certain period of time or an event and they'll talk about it just in listening to them, I'll be inspired to go to the library and take out a book or two on the subject. Teachers have to be passionate about what they teach and make it so interesting that the students want to know more. When they are reading about something they find interesting then their comprehension will go up accordingly. That's my theory on it.
@sam3m1 (190)
• United States
22 May 11
ted, i'm not sure what 5% comprehension refers to. usually it means that the person understands only 5% of what they are reading. essentially that means that they cannot read. if that is the case, the entire reading program has to be evaluated. the kids' reading levels have to be determined. after that each child should be placed in a small class with pupils at the same level. emphasis then should be on materials which are age-appropriate, but at their reading level. if you mean that 5% of the school is reading at the appropriate level, a different approach should be used since the system is failing these kids.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
22 May 11
I think either way, the system is failing the kids. With a system wide, high school reading comprehension rate this bad, I doubt it would be any worse if there were no schools at all. The only kids that are learning to read are those who are doing it independently of the school in the first place.