Building Your Brain, One Page at a Time

I’ve always enjoyed reading. I learned to read at a young age, and it became my favorite thing to do. I’d spend countless hours after school, sitting with a book. Reading has always been a hobby of mine, and I've been told many times that it is a skill that can help you do well academically. I do well in school, so I wondered if it is because of my reading habits? I decided to do this project to determine if a student's reading habits affect their academic performance. I wanted this project to help students understand that their habits with school and literature can go hand in hand! Students in all aspects of school can benefit from this project, as it can help them shape their reading habits to help them excel in school. I wanted to be able to use this project as a way to stress the importance of reading. The purpose of this project was to determine if a student's reading habits correlate with their academic performance. The hypothesis was that good reading habits would positively affect a student's academic performance.

When starting this project, I had to first understand how I would collect my data. By researching projects done on similar matters, I learned that a survey was the most effective way of collecting data. To do this, I had to create a survey using Google Forms and then construct a letter of informed consent and permission form. These ensured I had permission from parents/guardians before their child could participate. The survey was shared with 120 grade 7 to 12 students, with 78 completing the form. The survey asked questions regarding demographics (age, gender, grade level, and the highest educational level of their parents) as well as reading/studying habits and academics. Both Google Spreadsheets and Microsoft Excel were used to sort and analyze the data and generate graphs. Some questions on the survey were left unanswered, so when creating graphs, I excluded a participant if they did not have the questions of both variables answered. All data was analyzed for statistical significance.

The results showed that certain reading habits will significantly affect a student's average overall grade. The average time spent per week reading for studying purposes, studying/doing homework, and the age at which students learned to read significantly affect their average overall grade. However, other factors, including the participants' gender, their parents' educational level, favorite book genre and average time spent per week reading for pleasure, had little to no effect on academic performance. I found that time spent reading for studying purposes and time spent studying/doing homework had a positive relationship. I also found that as students spend more time reading for pleasure, they spend less time studying/doing homework, which will indicate a decrease in their grades.

These results show that the hypothesis is partially confirmed; certain reading habits will affect how a student performs academically. Having children learn to read at an early age and helping them place importance on their studies and homework will have a positive effect on their overall academic performance. Instilling a good work ethic and drive to do well in students from a young age helps them learn the value of school and the benefits of reading. Reading is a habit that can positively affect a student’s study habits. Overall, while reading has a positive effect on students' academic performance, students must find a balance between reading for enjoyment as opposed to reading for studying purposes.

There are a number of ways I’ve identified to further develop/improve this project. Participants were all from my current school. It would be interesting to see if the same effect exists in different populations. I would also like to survey the current grade 5 and 6 students once they reach high school to see if the effects hold. Other changes include improving the questions so they are clearer and easier for participants to respond. Additional questions could be added regarding time spent on technology and reading using technology versus a physical book. Do these factors affect academic performance?

Throughout my journey on this project, I’ve been blessed with help from some very encouraging individuals and groups!

Thank you to my principal, Mrs. Haas, for helping distribute the consent letters and spreading awareness of my project to the student body.

Thank you to the grade 5-12 teachers for letting me use their class time to complete the survey.

Thank you to the student body for taking part in the survey. My project couldn’t have been completed without their involvement.

Thank you to Ms. Dawe for her advice and guidance. She has been a great help and has been amazing to work with regarding all steps of my project.

[1] Owusu-Acheaw, M. (2014, May 6). Reading Habits Among Students and its Effect on Academic Performance: A Study of Students of Koforidua Polytechnic. Retrieved October 23, 2025, from https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2908&context=libphilprac

[2] Whitten, C., Labby, S., & Sullivan , S. L. (2016). The impact of Pleasure Reading on Academic Success. Retrieved October 22, 2025, from https://jmgr-ojs-shsu.tdl.org/jmgr/article/view/11/10