Literacy is the foundation of overall academic success. Reading skills are the gateway to success in all subjects taught in the classroom. The need to read is not limited to English Language Arts classes; literacy skills are essential in math, history and all other content areas. Beyond the classroom, literacy is an essential life skill. Not knowing how to read has a profound effect on our self-esteem, our social-emotional skills and our imagination.
The importance of this cannot be overstated, which is why we once again highlight the results of the most recent NAEP Bulletin: Only 35% of students read proficiently in Grade 4, and reading assessment scores are the lowest in decades.
Literacy skills, including listening, speaking, reading and writing, can be difficult to sustain because students can come from such a wide range. Students enter school at different levels of reading readiness and typically spend the early years of school learning to read. If reading skills are not developed by fourth grade, when education begins to focus on more complex, higher-order thinking skills, studies have shown that students rarely catch up to their peers in becoming readers. fluids.
The Learning Ally Audiobook Solution
As children age and learning shifts from learning to read to reading to learn, support can mean the difference between learning by reading or experiencing lasting academic failure. To enable students not only to be able to read but also to want to read, a holistic approach – providing intensive care for students most at risk and specialized attention for those with moderate literacy needs – is essential.
Comprised of high-quality, human-readable audiobooks and a suite of educational resources to track and support student progress, the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution is designed to turn struggling readers into engaged learners. With a library of over 80,000 culturally relevant and curriculum-aligned audiobooks, our audiobook solution has all the books students need to read as well as those they’ll want to read for enjoyment.
Students who use the Learning Ally audiobook solution demonstrate increased vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension, as well as greater confidence and engagement in the classroom. They also show improved assessment and high-stakes test scores.
Proven Research
There is extensive academic research on the effectiveness of audiobook support for literacy skills; Audiobooks have long been seen as an alternative way to access content, especially for readers with physical and cognitive challenges, but they have the potential to support every reader on their reading journey.
For example, a study found that reading aloud or listening to audiobooks can introduce new vocabulary and concepts, provide a fluent model to imitate, and allow students to access literature they cannot read in a way autonomous. Many studies also point to the benefits of audiobooks as a remedy for student disengagement from reading.
Moreover, listening to books can benefit readers of different age groups in various ways. For younger children, hearing new vocabulary aloud exposes them to more sophisticated spoken vocabulary, which helps them bridge the word gap many emerging readers face, especially those from low-income homes.
As for older students, the researchers found that the relationship between oral and written comprehension is strengthened after the second year when students begin to master decoding skills. Studies on middle and high school readers found that the influence of listening comprehension on reading comprehension variance continues to grow over time. More research found that audiobooks can be used with adolescent readers to improve reading fluency, expand vocabulary, develop comprehension, and increase motivation to interact with books.
Double the growth rate of reading
In a recent study conducted by the Zarlengo Foundation with more than 800 students in grades three through eight in an urban district, students who engaged with loyalty in the Learning Ally audiobook solution achieves double the growth rate of reading relative to their peers when assessed with the STAR Reading Assessment. Reading fidelity occurred when students receiving instructional support engaged in reading texts with the solution about four times a week for 12 weeks for 30 minutes each time.
Audio technology can be a valuable tool for increasing teacher capacity, enabling classroom cohesion, providing a scaffolding for learning, and supporting student success.
With its multitude of student-centered programs to ensure engagement and a suite of reporting and progress tracking tools for teachers to help manage homework, track student reading and provide updates to parents and administrators, the Learning Ally audiobook solution is more than just audiobooks – it’s a research-backed resource for today’s classrooms. Learn more today.