The school summer reading program, aimed at increasing the reading skills of students during summer vacation, was an overwhelming success, Autumn Turner reported to the Warren County Board of Education.
“We had 4,800 books read on myON over the summer,” Turner revealed in her report to the board. “That’s 945 hours spent reading.”
The “myOn” program personalizes reading for students by recommending books based on their interest, reading level, and their ratings of the books they have already read. The online program is available to Warren County students during summer vacation. Turner said there have been immediate effects seen when it comes to reading proficiency.
“There have been 46 students who increased their scores significantly,” Turner said, noting 238 students in the program read at least 20 books over the summer while one student read 108 books.
School Board member Bill Zechman lauded the program, noting reading proficiency is key to academic success.
“Poverty and low reading have a strong correlation,” Zechman said, noting children who are behind in reading after the third grade rarely do well in academics. “If they are not reading up to grade level by the end of the third grade then only 1-in-8 catch up.”
Zechman said the school system should continue pushing programs such as myON.
“We need to make reading job No. 1,” Zechman told the board. “We have to get the community involved.”