The Middle Grade Movement

 

Something is shifting in the relationship between children and books. It has been shifting for decades — quietly at first, then unmistakably. Children begin to move away from reading for pleasure around fourth grade, when reading starts to feel more of an academic focus in schools.

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By 8th grade reading for fun has declined tremendously.

 

Recent NAEP data reveals that daily reading for fun among 13-year-olds has dropped from 35% in 1984 to just 14% in 2023. That means just 1 in 7 13-year-olds reads for fun every day. (More alarming: for boys specifically, the number is only 10% who read daily.) The consequences aren't limited to reading scores. Not reading limits cognitive development, social-emotional well-being, and lifelong learning capacity. 

At One Word at a Time, we believe this is one of the defining challenges in education today. And we're building programs designed to turn the tide. 
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​Our Author Study program is one response to this challenge. By connecting students across the country with published authors through live, interactive virtual sessions, Author Study gives middle-grade students — kids ages 9-13, the age group most likely to be losing their relationship with reading — a spark that increases their enthusiasm for reading outside of school. Author Study is not a curriculum. It is not an intervention strategy. It is not a test-prep tool. Author Study is an experience designed to do what decades of research suggests is the missing ingredient: make reading feel personal, exciting, and worth choosing.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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And Author Study is making it possible, at scale, for the kids who need it most.

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At the start of last school year, only 38% of students in our Author Study program were rated by their teachers as highly enthusiastic about reading. By the end of the year? 80%. That's not a small nudge. That's a transformation — and it happened one virtual session, one read-aloud, one real author connection at a time.

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Author Study is part of the solution to the reading crisis. We’re here enriching the crucial work that educators, librarians, and families are doing to turn the tide. And a 42-point turnaround in reading engagement shows that we’re doing something right. Together!
 

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