What parents need to know
Decades of research confirms students recall key points and relevant information better when reading print. This isn’t new – the evidence has been building for over 20 years.
Full Citation
Singer, L.M. & Alexander, P.A. (2017). Reading on Paper and Digitally: What the Past Decades of Empirical Research Reveal. Review of Educational Research, 87(6), 1007-1041.
Publication Type
Comprehensive literature review published in Review of Educational Research, synthesizing decades of empirical studies
What They Studied
University of Maryland researchers conducted an exhaustive review of empirical research comparing paper and digital reading from approximately 1992 to 2017. The review analyzed studies across different age groups, text types, digital formats, and comprehension measures to determine what the accumulated evidence reveals about reading medium effects on learning outcomes.
Key Findings
- Decades of research consistently shows that “students recalled key points linked to the main idea and other relevant information better when engaged with print”
- The paper advantage is not a recent discovery – it has been documented consistently across more than 20 years of research
- The finding is remarkably stable across different study designs, age groups, and text types
- Main idea comprehension and key detail retention are both superior for paper reading
- The evidence base has been available for decades, yet school policies have moved in the opposite direction
- Multiple independent research teams across different countries have replicated the finding
- The consistency of results across time suggests this is a robust, reliable phenomenon, not a methodological artifact
- This extensive review provides one of the strongest evidence syntheses available on the reading medium question
- The fact that evidence has been building for decades while schools have accelerated digitalization suggests policy is not following research
- For parents questioning school technology policies, this review demonstrates that concerns are well-founded in longstanding scientific evidence
