Attitudes of Youth Toward Reading Before and After a Motivational Project

Abstract

A longitudinal study of student reading attitudes was conducted in 30 schools (20 elementary, 10 middle) using the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey instrument (ERAS). The instrument tested attitudes toward both recreational reading and academic/school reading as part of the Reading Excitement and Paperbacks Project (REAP). REF& participant schools were given grants to purchase new paperback books for libraries and classrooms, and to initiate Sustained, Silent Reading (SIR), teacher read-alouds, and other special motivational activities to encourage reading. This paper describes the attitudinal portion of the evaluation study of the third phase of the REAP project (REAP 3) conducted between 1993 and 1995. The study focused on determining: whether the activities of the REAP 3 project over a two-year time period affected student attitudes toward reading and if there were differences in reading attitude scores between grade level, gender, and different schools. Study results include: in general, students attitudes were favorable about reading; in both elementary and middle schools, females had more positive attitudes toward reading, with recreational reading attitudes more positive than academic/school reading attitudes; and schools varied tremendously in their pattern of reading attitude scores. The variation between schools suggests that activities at the school, teacher quality, and school environment probably affect those differences. Implications for schools and teachers, and future research are discussed. (Contains 27 references.) (SWC) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** ATTITUDES OF YOUTH TOWARD READING BEFORE AND AFTER A MOTIVATIONAL PROJECT U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. ABSTRACT Shirley A. Fitzgibbons Indiana University School of Library and Information Science Bloomington, IN 47405 USA E-mail: [email protected] PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Ken HaycockShirley A. Fitzgibbons Indiana University School of Library and Information Science Bloomington, IN 47405 USA E-mail: [email protected] PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Ken Haycock TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC). As part of an evaluation project assessing the impact of a specific reading motivation program in 30 schools (20 elementary, 10 middle), a longitudinal study of student reading attitudes was conducted using the nationally-tested Elementary Reading Attitude Survey instrument. The instrument tested both attitudes toward recreational reading and school reading. The results have implications for types of reading programs as well as book access and use of libraries. BACKGROUND Introduction Recently, more attention has been paid to the need to motivate and encourage reading in addition to the teaching of reading skills. The landmark publication, Becoming a nation of readers: The report of the Commission on Reading, concluded that Among all the ways the children reported spending their leisure time, average minutes per day reading books was the best predictor of reading comprehension, vocabulary size, and gains in reading achievement between the second and fifth grade. (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985, p.77) Personal, independent reading, either in school or out-of-school, is extremely important; yet most studies have shown that ...the amount of time children spend reading in the average classroom is small (7 or 8 minutes or less than 10% of the total time devoted to reading) (Anderson et al., p. 76); and ... most children don t read very much during their free time... (about 1% of their free time). (p. 77) In that same report, several factors are identified as important in the creation of readers including home environments (espetially reading aloud to young children as readiness for learning to read), and the use of reading instructional time in school. One of the primary objectives of the whole language and literature across the curriculum movements has been to encourage more independent reading. Consequently, school personnel need to know what factors affect student reading attitudes and behaviors so that they can more successfully motivate students to read. McKenna, Kear, and Ellsworth (1995) present a rationale for the importance of research on student reading attitudes: Understanding the role of attitude in developing readers is important for two principal reasons. First, attitude may affect the level of ability ultimately attained by a given student through its influence on such factors as engagement and practice. Second, even for the fluent reader, poor attitude may occasion a choice not to read when other options exist, a condition now generally known as aliteracy. (p. 934) Attitudes are acquired through experience, can be observed through behavior, and persist over time. It is important to acknowledge that attitude is a learned response which is influenced by many environmental factors such as home, school, and peers. Initially thought to be more of a cognitive aspect, today most social psychologists consider attitude to be related to several affective aspects such as the BEST COPY AVAILABLE 3