Required reading: Does it really benefit you?
How students really feel about summer assignments
September 19, 2018
Every year, students across Leander ISD have been required to read at least one book over the summer, do an assignment, and take various quizzes and tests over it. Some students do the assignment and get something out of it, but others choose to take the easy way out and use websites to find the summary of their book instead of actually reading it. But many students question if they are really benefiting from it.
“I think required reading helps students a lot in school,” senior Katie Gomez said. “It helps us because it enhances our vocabulary and it helps develop our way of thinking better. I find that it can also be a stress reliever for me because it takes my mind off of things that I’m worried about.”
In a survey of 24,000 students from 70 different high schools found that the number of students that cheat on classwork is high. 64 percent of students admitted to cheating on a test, 58 percent admitted to plagiarism, and 95 percent admitted to copying homework, cheating on a test, or also participating in plagiarism. To some, this lends credit to the argument that required reading is pointless, as students aren’t likely to actually complete the assignment on their own.
“I’ve done better at taking quizzes and tests because of required reading,” senior Lexi Cruz said. “It gives me [a] better ability to comprehend the test and understand what the question is really asking me.”
[Required reading] can be bad if you’re not willing to do the work that comes with it, but it can also teach you new skills if you’re willing to learn something from it.
— Isabella Townsend
Others claim that instead of making students read one required book, teachers should let students choose a book they want to read and give the students options on types of assignments they can complete over the book.
“You never know if the student is actually reading [their assignment],” senior Anthony Beltran said. “If it’s not interesting, you’re not really gaining anything from it because you’re not that engaged.”
An article from The Journal claims that the majority of students spend less than 15 minutes per day reading, but that increasing their daily reading time to 30 minutes can improve comprehension and boost their academic achievement.
“[Required] reading can be good and bad,” junior Isabella Townsend said. “It can be bad if you’re not willing to do the work that comes with it, but it can also teach you new skills if you’re willing to learn something from it.”
