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VELS level 3 – Fourth grade slump in Reading (Chall, Grosson de Leon, Hirsch, Kamil)

Some students, especially those from socioeconomic disadvantage, may read adequately from kindergarten to third-grade but suddenly begin to struggle when they reach fourth-grade. This phenomenon has been referred to as the “fourth-grade slump.”

Jeanne Chall (1983) identified two major stages of reading development which are:

• learning to read
• reading to learn.

The first stage typically encompasses grades 1, 2, and 3, and the second stage encompasses grades 4 and beyond.

“Learning to read” is a time when students are decoding words contained in simple texts that use familiar language. In fourth-grade, texts become more complex and abstract and contain language and concepts that are more challenging.

Consequently, some students’ reading scores dip. In subsequent grades, as texts become more and more difficult and supply less and less contextual support, students face the “eighth-grade cliff.”

According to Professor Michael Kamil, difficulty in text comprehension seems to be compounded by the fact that many upper-elementary grade teachers do not have, “substantial knowledge of how to teach reading,” (Grosso de Leon, 2002, p. 1).

Causes of the Fourth-Grade Slump: Theories

Chall and Stanovich

One possible reason for the fourth-grade slump may stem from lack of fluency and automaticity – quick and accurate recognition of words and phrases. Lack of fluency tends to result, in students reading less and avoiding more difficult materials (Chall, 1983, 1996; Stanovich, 1986).

An explanation for this reported difficulty with word meanings at about the fourth-grade might be that the words at fourth grade and above are less familiar. Although the student’s language seemed to have been sufficient for the first three grades, they were not prepared to meet the challenge of the greater number of abstract, technical, and literary words characteristic of the reading materials of grades 4 and beyond.

Such language – often termed Literary and Abstract – is more complex than that used by students in everyday, oral interaction.

Hirsch

Hirsch (2003) states that with recent, extensive, solid data on children’s early language development, the effects of the fourth-grade slump are in fact there, unmeasured, in earlier grades.

A large language gap – not just a reading gap – between advantaged and disadvantaged students exists also in third-grade, not to mention second, first, and even earlier.

Hirsch also presents the belief that reading tests make the comprehension gap seem much greater in fourth-grade because the tests used in earlier grades are heavily focused on testing early reading skills (like decoding) and do not try to measure the full extent of the vocabulary differences between the groups.

Chall and Jacobs

Chall and Jacobs (2003) suggest a focus on vocabulary to expand students’ word knowledge along with fluency and automaticity instruction. By honing these skills, students can identify words and their meanings instantly so their cognitive capacity can be used solely for comprehension of connected text.

They emphasise that students in the early grades who seem proficient in narrative reading comprehension, despite having deficits in word meaning and word recognition, will likely suffer later. They state:

“Because of the developmental nature of reading, the later one waits to strengthen weaknesses, the more difficult it is for the children to cope with the increasing literacy demands in the later grades.”

Grosso de Leon

Grosso de Leon (2002) proposes a focus on comprehension instruction that will provide students with specific strategies to help them understand complex text. In addition, efforts to build background knowledge help students understand texts that may contain less familiar and less cohesive material (Pressley, Johnson, Symons, McGoldrick, & Kurita, 1989).

Resources

• Chall and Jacobs’ theory (http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/spring2003/chall.html)
• Hirsch, E.D. Jr Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge of Words and the World – Scientific Insights into the Fourth-Grade Slump and the nations’ Stagnant Comprehension Scores: American Educator Spring 2003

Related materials

Previous key concept - Comprehension of complex texts (Trehearne, Doctorow, Munro)

Next key concept - Writing complex texts (Munro)