Enjoyment of reading: A study of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model Reading Framework
Date of Completion
January 2004
Keywords
Education, Elementary|Education, Educational Psychology|Education, Reading
Degree
Ph.D.
Abstract
Reading skills are a prerequisite for success in all academic areas, including mathematics and science, and instilling a desire in children to read for pleasure may enable them to be more successful in all academic endeavors. The recent emphasis on standardized testing has resulted in the implementation of remediation programs to assist low performing students, but not all students require the same types of intervention. This study explored the relationship between levels of reading enjoyment, attitude, and fluency by using quantitative methods, including analysis of variance (ANOVA), multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and multiple regression, and two new instruments, the Enjoyment of Reading (EOR) and the Reading Class Preferences Survey (RCPS). As part of a larger Schoolwide Enrichment Model-Reading Framework (SEMR) study, data were gathered from approximately 450 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students in a suburban school in New England using a cluster-randomized design. The SEMR intervention was based on pedagogy typically associated with gifted education, as treatment students were exposed to an enrichment curriculum with a great deal of autonomy and choice in the selection of high-interest reading materials and related activities. Control students continued with their previous use of a high quality basal series. Students at different achievement levels reported varying levels of enjoyment of reading, and the most fluent readers reporting the highest levels of enjoyment. The combination of grade level and enjoyment (score on the FOR instrument) predicted 22.3 percent of the variability in fluency, while FOR and grade predicted 43% of the variance in attitude scores, suggesting that enjoyment and attitude are closely linked. As enjoyment scores increased, attitude scores also increased. As the age of students increased, however, their attitude toward reading, as measured by scores on the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey, decreased. ^
Recommended Citation
Jacobs, Joan K, "Enjoyment of reading: A study of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model Reading Framework" (2004). Doctoral Dissertations. AAI3138386.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/dissertations/AAI3138386