To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Significance

Although there has been measurable improvement in recent years in reading ability at the elementary school level, progress appears to stall as children enter their teenage years, according to this report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The report builds on the NEA’s 2004 Reading at Risk report that focused mainly on literary reading trends among adults aged eighteen and older. The new report examines reading trends for students and adults alike, as well as readers at various education levels. It finds a gradual worsening of reading skills among older teens and declining reading proficiency, both of which, it says, have serious civic, cultural, and economic implications.