New-fangled writing, old-fashioned reading

Two new reports came out last week:

• "Writing, Technology and Teens," from the Pew Internet & American Life Project and the College Board's National Commission on Writing.
• "What Kids Are Reading: The Book-Reading Habits of Students in American Schools," by Renaissance Learning.

The writing study was based on a national telephone survey of teens and parents. To hear a great discussion of its findings, go to Kojo Nnamdi's April 29th radio show.

The reading study is, according to Renaissance, the first report to get at what kids are actually reading rather than which books are purchased or assigned in class. The company's software captures data on what children read by quizzing them about details in the stories they have read. More than 63,000 schools use the software. "We are in the unique position of having arguably the world’s largest single database of student book-reading behavior," wrote Roy Truby, a senior VP for Renaissance and co-author of the report.

Quick take-aways from both: Teenagers are, in fact, writing a lot these days -- but it's texting and IMing, not the formal writing that educators say they need. In fact, the teenagers themselves say that they don't consider their informal writing to be real writing.

And the books that schoolchildren read? It depends, of course, on what grade you're talking about. In first grade, Dr. Seuss books are at the top. In 9th-12th grade, it's To Kill a Mockingbird. Interestingly, in high school, Night by Elie Wiesel is the 2nd most-often read book among top achievers.