根據教育協會（IOE）的研究顯示，以閱讀為樂的孩子在學校的表現明顯地比其他同齡者要好。
此研究被認為是第一個將閱讀樂趣與認知發展做連結的研究，此研究以10到16歲之間的孩子為研究對象，發現以閱讀為樂的孩子，在數學，詞彙和拼寫比不常閱讀的孩子好。

研究者為蘇利文博士和馬特·布朗博士對約6000名青少年做了閱讀行為的研究，是由經濟和社會研究理事會所資助。他們研究此6000名童年的閱讀量與數學、單字、拼字之間的關連性，並分別在5、10和16歲時做研究測試，以此分析這些受試者的閱讀行為。
在IOE中心的研究者對受試者進行縱向研究，發現受試者擁有相同的社會背景，在5歲和10歲時，達到了相同的測試成績。研究者同時也發現，在10歲時經常讀書的兒童和16歲時每週閱讀次數一次以上，比那些較少定期讀書兒童，在16歲時的研究測試獲得了較高的結果。
令人驚訝的是，10和16歲之間的兒童，閱讀興趣比他們父母的教育水平對孩子的認知發展是更重要的。在16歲時，經常看書，經常去圖書館和經常閱讀報紙的兒童，在學習上有顯著的進步。
由父母從5歲開始培養定時的讀書習慣的孩子，在16歲測試時比沒有自小時候培養定時讀書習慣的兒童表現好。

沙利文博士指出，以閱讀為樂的兒童，在詞彙的發展上有極大的影響力，同時在拼寫和數學上也有顯著影響。博士說：「這似乎有點不可思議，閱讀樂趣將有助於提高孩子的數學成績，這極有可能是較強的閱讀能力，加強兒童吸收及了解新的知識的能力並影響他們對所有科目的吸收能力。」
該研究還發現，有兄姐的兒童在三個領域的測試成績上產生了負面影響，尤其是詞彙，有弟妹的兒童在測試成績上的影響較小，但詞彙分數依然較低。研究人員認為，這可能是因為兄弟姊妹較多的家庭中，父母沒有足夠的時間陪孩子做一對一的交談，並因此缺少發展他們詞彙的機會。
沙利文博士說，這項研究強調要鼓勵孩子閱讀 - 即使在此數位的時代。 博士也說：「以閱讀為樂的年輕人有逐漸下降的趨勢，是由多種因素造成的，包括花費更多的時間在團體活動、寫作業，當然，更多的時間在上網。」
「然而，新的科技，如電子閱讀器，提供了一個更方便的管道閱讀書籍和報紙，重要的是，政府的政策支持及鼓勵孩子閱讀，尤其是在他們的少年歲月。」

沙利文博士還強調，加強成人識字率有助於改善兒童的認知發展。沙利文博士說：「在所有三種測試中，父母有閱讀問題的兒童比父母沒有閱讀問題的兒童的表現明顯較差，鑑於英國成人文盲比率相當普及，估計在15％，政府能運用政策提高成人的識字率，將顯著地提升孩子的學習成果。」
「在這項研究中的許多年輕人現在已成為了父母，他們的識字水平和享受閱讀的樂趣會反過來影響其子女的受教育程度。」
(本文章源於倫敦大學教育學院於2013年9月11日發表的研究)

Reading for pleasure puts children ahead in the classroom, study finds
Children who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better at school than their peers, according to new research from the Institute of Education (IOE).
The IOE study, which is believed to be the first to examine the effect of reading for pleasure on cognitive development over time, found that children who read for pleasure made more progress in math, vocabulary and spelling between the ages of 10 and 16 than those who rarely read.
The research was conducted by Dr. Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown, who analyzed the reading behaviour of approximately 6,000 young people being followed by the 1970 British Cohort Study, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. They looked at how often the teenagers read during childhood and their test results in maths, vocabulary and spelling at ages 5, 10 and 16.
The researchers, who are based in the IOE’s Centre for Longitudinal Studies, compared children from the same social backgrounds who had achieved the same test scores as each other both at ages 5 and 10. They discovered that those who read books often at age 10 and more than once a week at age 16 gained higher results in all three tests at age 16 than those who read less regularly.
Perhaps surprisingly, reading for pleasure was found to be more important for children’s cognitive development between ages 10 and 16 than their parents’ level of education. The combined effect on children’s progress of reading books often, going to the library regularly and reading newspapers at 16 was four times greater than the advantage children gained from having a parent with a degree.
Children who were read to regularly by their parents at age 5 performed better in all three tests at age 16 than those who were not helped in this way.
Dr Sullivan notes that reading for pleasure had the strongest effect on children’s vocabulary development, but the impact on spelling and math was still significant. “It may seem surprising that reading for pleasure would help to improve children’s math scores,” she said. “But it is likely that strong reading ability will enable children to absorb and understand new information and affect their attainment in all subjects.”
The study also found that having older siblings had a negative effect on children’s test scores in all three subject areas but particularly for vocabulary. Having younger siblings had less effect on test performance but was linked to lower vocabulary scores. The researchers suggest this may be because children in larger families spend less time in one-to-one conversations with their parents and therefore have less opportunity to develop their vocabularies.
Dr Sullivan says this study underlines the importance of encouraging children to read – even in the digital age. “There are concerns that young people’s reading for pleasure has declined. There could be various reasons for this, including more time spent in organized activities, more homework, and of course more time spent online,” she said.
“However, new technologies, such as e-readers, can offer easy access to books and newspapers and it is important that government policies support and encourage children’s reading, particularly in their teenage years.”
Dr. Sullivan also emphasizes that improving adult literacy could be important for children’s cognitive development. “Children of parents who had reading problems performed significantly less well in all three tests than children of parents who reported no reading problems,” she said. “Given the prevalence of adult illiteracy in Britain, with functional illiteracy estimated at 15 per cent, policies to increase adult literacy rates could significantly improve children’s learning outcomes.”
“Many of the young people included in this study are now parents themselves, and their literacy levels and enjoyment of reading will in turn influence their children’s educational attainment.”