Through online interview with several BRS high school students and my previous observation of BRS students I taught, I figure out some basic characteristics of BRS high school students in the perspective of reading.
# BRS students can be divided into two types of readers - a small percentage of frequent readers and a large percentage of rare-readers. Some of the rare-readers were frequent-readers before middle school. The rest could hardly imagine themselves as readers in previous life.
# As for those frequent-readers, many of them have less time and energy in reading widely when they grow to high school and are under the pressure of TOEFL, SAT, and various AP courses. Fewer students in BRS continue the habit of reading, as they grow older.
# As for those rare-readers, they are never pressured to read more, either from internal need or external forces. They are quite comfortable and used to living in an environment without much reading experience.
# The books in BRS school library have a very low rate of circulation.
# Most BRS students say they have piles of untouched books at home.
# Most of the interviewed students do not feel their teachers and parents are pushing them to read more, either in class or after class.
# Most of the interviewed students do not believe reading widely could improve their academic studies, or increase their scores in tests, or their chance of being accepted by ideal colleges. They do not see a practical need in reading.
# ......
In a word, most BRS students are # living and studying in an environment that is abundant with reading materials, but are # not motivated by teacher, parents, and peers to develop the reading habit. What's more, they are # unknown about what reading could benefit them. These findings are the starting point to launch my project of supporting and preparing lifelong readers.
# BRS students can be divided into two types of readers - a small percentage of frequent readers and a large percentage of rare-readers. Some of the rare-readers were frequent-readers before middle school. The rest could hardly imagine themselves as readers in previous life.
# As for those frequent-readers, many of them have less time and energy in reading widely when they grow to high school and are under the pressure of TOEFL, SAT, and various AP courses. Fewer students in BRS continue the habit of reading, as they grow older.
# As for those rare-readers, they are never pressured to read more, either from internal need or external forces. They are quite comfortable and used to living in an environment without much reading experience.
# The books in BRS school library have a very low rate of circulation.
# Most BRS students say they have piles of untouched books at home.
# Most of the interviewed students do not feel their teachers and parents are pushing them to read more, either in class or after class.
# Most of the interviewed students do not believe reading widely could improve their academic studies, or increase their scores in tests, or their chance of being accepted by ideal colleges. They do not see a practical need in reading.
# ......
In a word, most BRS students are # living and studying in an environment that is abundant with reading materials, but are # not motivated by teacher, parents, and peers to develop the reading habit. What's more, they are # unknown about what reading could benefit them. These findings are the starting point to launch my project of supporting and preparing lifelong readers.