Reading & Brain Function!

The importance of reading cannot be underestimated for learning.

Now even more research indicates that reading is not only beneficial for obvious reasons, but that it helps develop stronger listening and observing skills as well.  This attentiveness will, in turn, develop even better readers, but it will also ensure that the student is able to learn via other means.

"Dr. Dehaene and his colleagues compared the brain function of adults who can read with those who had never learned to read.
What they found was that regions of the brain that all of us use to process visual information were enhanced among the adults who were readers; both those who had read from childhood and those who learned to read as adults.  They also found that listening skills were better among both groups of readers than among the adults who did not read." (Burns, Martha PHD [2011]: How Learning to Read Improves Brain Function)

Listening to a lecture, social learning, picking up on cues, all appear to be better developed in readers.
These skills are not only useful in academic settings but also in the workplace and individual development as well. 

Of course, these are broad strokes - individual cases are always subject to variations.  Overall, however, there is powerful evidence that improving students' access to reading material and giving them the ability to read will positively affect the breadth of their learning experience far beyond the mechanics of sounding out words and reading phrases.