How Does Student Attitude Toward Reading Change, Over the Course of One Year, for At Risk Readers?

Abstract

Modern schools emphasize improving the reading abilities of students. However, a focus solely on raising reading scores can ignore the importance of a student’s attitude towards reading. This study investigates how student attitude toward reading changes for at-risk students over the course of a year. The author selected 51 second grade students involved in the Reading Intervention Program (RIP) during the 1995-1996 school year at English Village School, located in a suburban western New York school district, to serve as subjects. Students were initially given a reading attitude survey which included follow-up questioning by the instructor. Surveys were also given to the students’ teachers and parents. Surveys were then conducted towards the end of the school year, and the results were analyzed. After participating in RIP, 24 students showed an increase in attitude towards reading, 18 showed a decrease, and 9 showed no change at all. There appears to be a positive correlation between the number of reading levels advanced and an increase in student attitude toward reading. As students advanced ten or more levels, their attitude toward reading tended to increase. The study also found specific activities like going to the school or public library and receiving books as presents were viewed overwhelmingly positive by students.