Remember our recent post about the success of bribing kids to learn? (tldr: kids bribed to read books scored the most improvement)
Here's another study linking the importance of reading books (technically, book collection - but I suppose the two typically go hand in hand) to academic success:
After examining statistics from 27 nations, a group of researchers found the presence of book-lined shelves in the home — and the intellectual environment those volumes reflect — gives children an enormous advantage in school.
“Home library size has a very substantial effect on educational attainment, even adjusting for parents’ education, father’s occupational status and other family background characteristics,” reports the study, recently published in the journal Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. “Growing up in a home with 500 books would propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average, than would growing up in a similar home with few or no books.
“This is a large effect, both absolutely and in comparison with other influences on education,” adds the research team, led by University of Nevada sociologist M.D.R. Evans. “A child from a family rich in books is 19 percentage points more likely to complete university than a comparable child growing up without a home library.”
http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/home-libraries-provide-huge-educational-advantage-14212/
I think the study is substantiating what is pretty obvious, no?
Results were mixed.
How so, did it only speak Spanish?
(BTW, I also bribe my kids to read--not with money, but with other enticements!)
If you want your kids to read, you need to read to them, even until high school. And they need to see you reading as well. The only enticement you need is a good book!
It seems like an obvious problem of mistaking correlation with causation. It seems more likely that homes that include lots of books also include parents who like to read, and thus children grow up imitating their parents. Dropping a few books (or 500) in a household where no one gives a crap about reading is unlikely to result in any concrete gains.
Even more telling, footnote 2:
It is logically possible that books could be separated from such a culture - perhaps being inherited from a maiden aunt - and that they are so intrinsically attractive that children devour them voraciously in the absence of any support or encouragement from parents. But it is not likely: Moreover, analysis of many different aspects of the home environment finds that home library size has strong predictive validity as an indicator of parents' attraction to the teaching role vis a vis their children
So, there, you have it. Parents, not books, are the factor.
I agree with some of the other contributors that a pile of books is probably an indicator of family priorities, which are picked up by the children.
"Seems that any home with a 500 book library would not need statistical correction for educational attainment of parents. The 500 books pretty much indicate a home inclined to view education positively."
That is exactly why these homes DO need statistical correction for parental educational attainment
And as I have a child now I'm totally taking this as an excuse to buy whatever books I want.