Bring It On! I can make a difference in the school: one independent reader at a time.

Patience is Good!

Richard Allington states:  "Failure to maintain an on-schedule pace of reading acquisition is the most frequent basis to a referral to an instructional support program."  Translation:  if kids do not read they will be referred for reading support or fail to reach proficiency.

Patience will be the key in making a difference in our overall achievement!

Your role in this fight is critical!  You are the difference maker in motivating kids to read independently.  This means more than asking for volume.  It is the focused conversation around what they are reading and the impact it is having on their ability to achieve in school.    You are the person who will develop our culture into a literate culture.  . Students who reach middle or high school and are still struggling to read for meaning should serve as a red flag to educators. We must move away from this is the way we have always taught our subject and instead commit to what can I do to help my students read and comprehend the required reading.
ALA study:

The common sense notion that students who do a substantial amount of voluntary reading demonstrate a positive attitude toward reading is upheld in both qualitative and quantitative research (Long and Henderson 1973; Greaney 1980; Hepler and Hickman 1982; Greaney and Hegarty 1987; Reutzel and Hollingsworth 1991; Shapiro and White 1991; Mathewson 1994; Barbieri 1995; Short 1995). Students’ reading achievement has been shown to correlate with success in school and the amount of independent reading they do (Greaney 1980; Anderson, Fielding and Wilson 1988). This affirms the predictability of a success cycle: we become more proficient at what we practice (Cullinan 1992).  

The amount of free reading done outside of school has consistently been found to relate to growth in vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency, and general information (Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding 1988; Greaney 1980; Guthrie and Greaney 1991; Taylor, Frye, and Maruyama 1990). Students who read independently become better readers, score higher on achievement tests in all subject areas, and have greater content knowledge than those who do not (Krashen 1993; Cunningham and Stanovich 1991; Stanovich and Cunningham 1993). Although the correlations are steady, determining the appropriate causal interpretation of the relationships is problematic. 

Make a difference; be patient.  You will be able to support students through independent reading.  Just wait and see!