The lady on the exercise bike next to me Saturday morning laughed out loud several times as she read. As she was leaving, we chatted for a minute. She was reading a Janet Evanovich book…I think number seven, and said, “I just love these books. Do you know how many more she has written?” When told her that I think number 15 is due out soon, she laughed with pleasure. She had many more left to entertain her while she exercised.

This got me to thinking, as my Saturday morning exercise often does, and I put down my professional journal to follow my thoughts on a research statement I read that has bothered me lately. It stated that research does not support silent sustained reading (SSR) as a reading strategy. Now I have read enough research over the years to immediately want more information….but this book gave none. I have a problem with this for a number of reasons. First of all, too many people grab on to any research they read and assume it to be true without actually reading the research. I wanted to know, who did this research? What were the conditions? Was SSR done well or just passed over with kids “pretending” to read? Was SSR the only reading instruction? Did students have access to books that they truly were interested in reading? Was reading for pleasure modeled and encouraged? How many studies reflected this?

Another concern is that this just doesn’t fit with my experience. I worked with students for four years in my Connections (homeroom) class where we averaged 4 days a week of SSR time. I saw from the beginning of this a change in my students and the school. Kids actually carried books around. They talked about books, shared books. No, not all of the kids, but it became normal, not unusual. The atmosphere for reading was changed. Sure there were kids who did not like to read all the time, but over time, they read more than not. In their portfolios they kept track of what they had read since their freshman year. The list was impressive. Some were like Janet Evanovich, fluff and sheer entertainment, but others were thought provoking. I think of Tomas who often resisted…reading was just too much work. But his senior year, that changed, and every day he read. Mid-year he picked up The Count of Monte Cristo and worked through it each day even when we had other homeroom tasks to complete.

My personal experience is that SSR is extremely beneficial. So does that mean that I throw out the research that questions its value or do I throw out a practice that works for my students? Neither. It means I probe further. I determine what is it that I want from SSR, and I determine if it is doing that. I use research as a resource, but I make sure I understand the research before I change a practice that seems to be working. I make sure that that the practice or strategy is done well before I determine if a change is needed.

This questioning started me digging into research on my own. I found an essay by Kyleen Beers, president elect of the National Council of Teachers of English, in which she addresses the research against SSR which is from the national Reading Panel’s 2000 report “Teaching Children to Read.” She clarifies that this report reviewed only 14 studies that fit their criteria of what makes a study scientific. Correlational studies, case studies, and long-term experimental studies were not reviewed. This shed more light on the information. I can look at my own practice as well as the research and make an informed decision.

As far as SSR goes, I have never thought of it as a replacement for reading instruction. Rather is a time where students get some freedom in their education. They stretch themselves into lifelong reading….reading to find out what they want to know, reading for pleasure. As I told my students, “We don’t have to read during this time, we get to read. It is a gift of time and of freedom.” It was also a way to connect with my students. Our conversations about books opened doors to many other conversations and to a depth in our relationship over the four years.

Yes, I value research, but I value it most when I understand it. We must dig deep and base our decisions not only on what some one says the research shows, but what it truly shows, what it does not show, and how it applies to our students.

Molly Berger is a guest blogger and teacher in Yakima.

Previous Blogs:

Are you comfortable being uncomfortable?

Going back to school, class-less for the first time

Taking a literary vacation