The article that I read, titled “Motivation to Read: How Does it Change for Struggling Readers with and without Disabilities?”, discussed the effect that specific reading instruction has on a student’s motivation to read. The study looked at older students, from grades four to twelve, that are struggling readers. The authors defined struggling readers as students who are reading below basic levels as assessed by a standardized reading assessment. Some of these 45 students, about half, have been identified with a disability, either a reading disability or a social/emotional disability. To determine the effects on motivation, the authors used the Adolescent Motivation to Read Survey (AMRS) as pre-study and post-study data collection. The survey looks at three areas; Self-Concept, Value of Reading, and Full-Survey. The survey was given at the beginning of the study, then the students received 90 to 100 minutes of reading instruction at their reading level. The instruction consisted of a blend of whole group instruction, small reading groups, and a technological component. After 18 weeks of this instruction, the AMRS was administered again and the results were analyzed.
The results of the study, as far as the numbers show, were not significantly different in any area. The one area that did show some increase, was the self-concept area. However, as the authors stated in their article, to truly understand the data, more than just the numbers need to be analyzed. The authors, therefore, did an analysis of the each of the answers in the survey. What they found was that the instruction improved the students’ feelings about their reading abilities, for example on the pre-study survey, one student felt that they were “a poor reader” and no students felt that they were “poor readers” on the post-study survey. There was also a general increase in the students’ perception of how difficult reading is, as well as a slight increase in those who reported that they sometimes like to read a book (from 53.8% to 76.0%). The authors did point out that the section of the survey that measured the Value of Reading, did not increase because it was already relatively high. They posit that this indicates students, regardless of their reading abilities, are aware of the importance of reading and comprehending what is read.
In the authors’ discussion of their findings, they stress the importance of building motivation in readers. They suggest that “teachers should consider focusing on the importance of reading for students’ lives in order to improve their reading skills.” (Melkoglu and Wilkerson 85) Their rationale for this is that increasing an appreciation of the importance of reading will also increase the motivation to read.
This article is useful to my study in two ways; first, I am looking at how to increase engagement in struggling readers and one of my methods for testing this is with a reading engagement survey. Some of the questions that were on my survey were similar to the questions on the AMRS. I can use the study’s student responses to see if my students’ responses follow the same trend. The second way this article is useful to my study is additional proof that older students need more reading instruction time. I cite this as being a major concern for struggling readers. The article discusses the challenge presented when students stop learning to read and start reading to learn. They become so immersed in needing to read to gain content, but do not get the necessary instruction time needed to help them grow as readers.
Melekoğlu, M. A., & Kimber L., W. (2013). Motivation to Read: How Does It Change for Struggling Readers with and without Disabilities?.
Mentorship and the Struggling Reader 