ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND THE AMOUNT OF TIME UNITED STATES SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS REMEMBER BEING READ TO BEFORE ENTERING SCHOOL

This study examined the relationship between academic achievement of high school sophomores and seniors and the amount of time they remember being read to before entering school. Analysis of covariance was used to determine what unique variance in reading, vocabulary, and mathematics achievement could be accounted for by being read to before entering school over and above that which could be accounted for by Spanish or non-Spanish origin, sex, race, socioeconomic status, having siblings 1-2 years older, having siblings 3 or more years older, the amount of time students spent watching television, and mosaic abilities.;Six general and 72 specific research hypotheses were developed for this study. Multiple linear regression was used to examine each general and specific hypothesis. The effect was calculated for each hypothesis to account for the large sample size. In addition, since multiple comparisons were made among the hypotheses, a correction for multiple comparisons was calculated.;This study found that three of the general hypotheses were significant and three general hypotheses were nonsignificant. The significant hypotheses identified that remembering being read aloud to before entering school was predictive of some unique variance in predicting reading and vocabulary achievement. The relationships were in a positive direction. Of the 72 specific hypotheses 40 were found to be positively significant and 30 were nonsignificant. In terms of practical importance, none of the general hypotheses and 12 of the specific hypotheses equalled the .02 small effect size established for this study.;The recommendation suggested from this study is that a longitudinal study be conducted with parents reporting the amount of time they actually read to their preschool-age children. Subsequent testing of the students at regular intervals during their academic development could empirically determine the effect of reading aloud on academic achievement.;The data used in the analysis was from the 1980 High School and Beyond (HSB) data collected by the National Opinion Research Center. From the original HSB population of 57,280 students in 1,015 schools, data on 24,830 sophomores and seniors were used.;In conclusion, remembering being read aloud to before starting school is predictive of some unique variance in predicting reading and vocabulary achievement of high school students.