Student Reading Skills

During the 2026-2027 academic year, the CTLE will facilitate a community of practice (CoP) focused on effective teaching strategies for helping students build reading skills. As defined by the SU Office of Institutional Effectiveness, a CoP is “an organized group of professional people who share the same interests in resolving an issue, improving skills, and learning from each other’s experiences.” The Student Reading CoP will meet four times during the Fall 2026 semester and three times during the Spring 2027 semester. We will discuss relevant research and effective teaching strategies for helping students build reading skills, and we will also have an opportunity to hear insights directly from SU students as part of the CTLE’s commitment to pedagogical partnerships. Instructors of any rank, including graduate students, are invited to participate. Meeting schedule and registration information coming soon.

Encouraging Students to Read | Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning | Northern Illinois University

If You Want Students to Read More, Consider Asking Them to Read Less | Times Higher Education

Learning Through Reading: Strategies to Support Students’ Reading Practices | Columbia University CTL

Tips for Encouraging Students to Complete Class Readings | Penn State Center for Educational Innovation

Why Don’t Students Read? | Tea For Teaching

Further Reading: Teaching Strategies

Academic Reading Skills | UC Santa Barbara Office of Teaching and Learning

Getting More Students to Read Assigned Readings | University of Texas Rio Grande Center for Teaching Excellence

Getting Your Students to Engage with Course Readings | Faculty Focus

Getting Your students to read | University of Colorado Denver Division for Teaching Innovation and Program Strategy

Help College Students Read | James D. Martin Center for Academic Renewal

Help! My College Students Can’t Read | Bloomsbury

How to Get Your Students to Read | Chronicle of Higher Education

How to Help Students Get the Most Out of Reading Assignments | Drexel University Teaching and Learning Center

Increasing Student Reading and Discussion in Higher Ed: A Co-Creation Based Approach | Faculty Focus

Putting the Science of Reading into Action: Five Ways to Help Struggling Readers | Graduate School of Education Touro University

Reading Circles Get Students to Do the Reading | Faculty Focus

Skim, Dive, Surface: Teaching Digital Reading | West Virginia University Press

 Strategies for Teaching Reading Skills | Carleton College Writing Across the Curriculum

Supporting Student Reading: Teaching Active and Effective Reading Strategies | University of Toronto Teaching Assistants’ Training Program

Supporting Students in College-level Reading | Adams Center

Three Ways to Promote Student Ownership of Reading Assignments | Faculty Focus

Using Reading Groups to Get Students Reading | Faculty Focus

Further Reading: Research

New Study of the Literacy of College Students Finds Some Are Graduating With Only Basic Skills | American Institutes for Research

Reading Changes in the Digital Age: An Action Plan to Improve College Students’ Reading Ability Based on Historical Trajectory | Espacio Tiempo y Educacion

Students’ Reading in Higher Education: Challenges and Ways Forward | Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy

When and Why Do Students Read for Class?| Liz Norell

Further Reading: Commentary

The College Reading Decline: Why It Matters | BYU Political Review

Critical Reading Skills: An Urgent Challenge | Inside Higher Ed

The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books | The Atlantic

The End of Reading | Psychology Today

Gen Z Arriving at College Unable to Read | Futurism

Is This the End of Reading? | Chronicle of Higher Education

Is NYTimes Correct That College Students Don’t Read Books? | Inside Higher Ed

Literacy Crisis in College Students: Essay from a Professor on Students Who Don’t Read.| Slate

There’s a Very Good Reason College Students Don’t Read Anymore | New York Times

US Professors Raise Concerns about College Students’ Reading Ability | Thred Website