Eighth-graders: Phooey on reading!

I suppose it's no shock in this wired generation,  but fewer than one in five eighth-graders in Charlotte and nationwide say they read for fun almost every day.  And about one-third say they never read when they don't have to.

That's a tidbit from the latest "nation's report card" report on reading and math results for students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and 20 other large urban districts.  The sampling of students who took the 2011 eighth-grade reading test were asked some background questions , including how often they read for fun on their own time.  Eighteen percent of CMS students said  "almost every day,"  matching the national average.  Only Chicago;  Washington,  D.C.;  and Louisville,  Ky.,  were higher,  at 19 percent.  Dallas had the fewest daily readers at 9 percent.

Non-readers made up 33 percent of the national test-takers and 30 percent in CMS.  Other cities ranged from 40 percent choosing  "almost never"  in Fresno,  Calif.,  to 17 percent in Chicago.

Not surprisingly,  the report says students who read more frequently for pleasure scored higher on the reading tests.