Impact of Summer Programs
Scaffolding Voluntary Summer Reading for Children in Grades 3 to 5: An
Experimental Study
Citation
Kim, J. S. and T. G. White. 2008. Scaffolding voluntary summer reading for children in
grades 3 to 5: An experimental study. Scientific Studies of Reading 12 (1): 1-23.
Key Findings
 Access to books and encouragement to read are necessary but not sufficient for
improving elementary students’ reading ability.
 Voluntary reading is more effective if students are given explicit skill instructions
and encouraging social interactions around text, both of which promote reading
engagement and comprehension.
 The study provided elementary school students with 8 books over the course of
the summer. Students in the experimental study fell into four categories: control
group, books only, books with oral reading scaffolding, or books with oral reading
and comprehension scaffolding.
 Children given books with oral reading and comprehension scaffolding scored
significantly higher in outcome tests than the control group. Overall, providing
scaffolding was more effective than no scaffolding in producing positive
outcomes.
 Teacher and parent scaffolding can enhance effectiveness of voluntary summer
reading, but selecting books that match a student’s reading level and reading
preference is important.
 The program is especially important for low-income and minority children.
Link
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a790519260~db=all~jumptype=
rss
Keywords
Early Learning, Early Literacy, Program Design, Program Evaluation, Summer Learning,
Summer Learning Programs, Summer Programs, Summer Reading, Summer Research.