A Study into the Effects of a Reading Intramurals Program on Students' Attitudes toward Reading

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not an after school Reading Intramurals program positively affected students' interest and attitude toward reading. The subjects of this study consisted of an experimental group of third and fourth grade students who participated in the Reading Intramurals program and a control group of third and fourth grade students who did not participate in the program. The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey was used to determine the reading attitudes of the students in the experimental group and in the control group. An independent t test was first used to compare the mean pretest scores of both groups to verify that the reading attitudes of the students in the two groups were comparable at the onset of the study. A t test for related samples was used next to compare the control group's pretest and posttest scores on the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey with the experimental group's pretest and posttest scores on the same attitude survey, to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in reading interest and attitude between the two groups. The results of the study found that although participation in the Reading Intramurals program did not necessarily increase reading attitudes, it did not decrease them either, whereas the group of students who did not participate in a Reading Intramurals program had a significant decrease in reading attitudes.