Summer Reading Research Focuses on Low-Income Students

Access Books

Program founded by Rebecca Constantino

Link to June 1 USA Today article , "Free books block 'summer slide' in low-income students".


Excerpt:   Schools have always tried to get students to read over the summer. For middle-class students, that's not as big a deal with their access to books at home, public libraries and neighborhood bookstores, says Richard Allington, a longtime reading researcher at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Over the past 20 years, researchers have shown that low-income students simply have less access to print. In some cases, even walking to the local public library may be too dangerous.

"A lot of parents say, 'When we're gone, you can't go to the library.' It's not an option," says Rebecca Constantino, a researcher and instructor at the University of California-Irvine.

Wisconsin has a similar program.