Advancing Literacy through Large Print: Translating National Study Results into Local Advocacy

Rather than a catalyst for lifelong learning, reading can represent a challenging and demoralizing school experience for many of our nation’s students. According to the latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing, almost two-thirds of 4th and 8th grade students in our schools are reading at a basic or below basic level. Given the low level of reading mastery overall, it’s not surprising that many students say they don’t enjoy reading. Striving readers are students who may be unmotivated or perceive reading as having little value for them. They may lack visual acuity, vocabulary, or comprehension skills. Striving readers can also include those for whom English is a second language, have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD), or have a learning disability like dyslexia. Besides obvious academic obstacles, striving readers face emotional and social issues. Research indicates that low achievement in reading correlates with increased referrals for school discipline and higher incidences of poor school attendance, dropping out of school, and even juvenile crime.
National thought leaders on reading instruction affirm that if a student is not intrinsically motivated to read and not engaged in what they are reading, their teacher’s explicit skill-based instruction around reading is unproductive. It is therefore critical that educators find new ways to make reading more meaningful for students by leveraging the power of context and comfort in the reading process to increase student engagement, elevate reading comprehension, and support the development of lifelong reading habits.
With that goal in mind, Project Tomorrow partnered with Thorndike Press to design and implement a large scale, nationwide study to investigate the impact of students reading large print-formatted books on their reading engagement and achievement levels. The study involved a diverse collection of 15 elementary, middle and high schools nationwide, and 1,696 students and 56 teachers and librarians.  The study’s results document two highly significant findings:  (1) students, teachers and librarians  were enthusiastic about having access to large print titles and based upon their positive experience wanted more of such titles in their libraries and classrooms, and (2) academic results validate large print as a viable literacy intervention resource for every library. 
The study results will provide a research-based context for a highly interactive and informative learning lab.  In our learning lab, participants will first learn about the research methodology and findings to gain a new perspective on the value of large print with striving readers directly.  Armed with this knowledge, the participants work in teams to envision new strategies for addressing the needs of three youth cohorts of striving readers:  students that are unmotivated to read, students with learning challenges that make it difficult for them to learn or appreciate reading, and students who are learning English. Each working team will share out their new strategies with the larger group.  As a group we will discuss what is needed to advocate for new types of interventions like large print text that support literacy development.