Purpose: Reading fluency establishes the basis for the strong literacy skills needed for academic success. We aim to trace how reading fluency develops from childhood to adulthood and identify factors that influence this development. Method: In this study, 200 families were followed. All participating children (N = 200, 47% female) were ethnic…

The conversation around reluctant readers continues to focus on boys, with research, practice and policy exploring what could be done to (re)engage boys in reading (see National Literacy Trust, 2012; Department for Education, 2019; OECD, 2021). Girls who don't enjoy reading or who don't read in their free time are seldom the focus of interest,…

Many teachers feel that students should not struggle with text; instead, they should read easier texts in order to learn from them and make adequate growth in reading. In turn, teachers might use easier or leveled texts as a solution or a graphic novel or multimodal version to differentiate text reading and to motivate and engage reluctant…

Student motivation is a necessary catalyst for reading achievement; therefore, educators need to determine how to motivate reluctant readers, including students reading below grade level. Our qualitative study begins to address this challenge by reporting what struggling adolescents and their teacher at 1 urban middle school discussed about their…

The authors examined the dimensions of reading engagement for rural ninth-grade students who participated in a supplemental literacy intervention for students who struggled with school-based reading. Using a comparative case study approach, researchers investigated the ways in which engagement was characterized and undermined within the context of…

This 12-week mixed-methods study examined an 8th-grade English language arts curriculum designed to increase participants' (N = 62) reading comprehension and reading motivation. Data consisted of demographic information, pre/post standardized reading comprehension scores, reading motivation survey scores, and participants' periodic semistructured…

The authors' purpose was to examine adolescents' reading motivation in relation to standardized assessments of reading comprehension and fluency. After a reading pretest, 60 ninth-grade students (M age = 14.9 years) were randomly assigned to two groups. Compared to those in the control condition, those administered brief oral feedback intended to…

Through "Evangelii Gaudium" (2013) and "Laudato si'" (2015) Pope Francis has approached contemporary culture head-on with a call for Catholics to engage, and not retreat from, the changes and challenges of the 21st century. Traditional expectations and norms of society such as education, occupations, communication, and…

Many tens of thousands of preservice and inservice teachers have relied on this highly regarded text from leading experts, now in a revised and updated sixth edition. The latest knowledge about literacy teaching and learning is distilled into flexible strategies for helping all PreK-12 learners succeed. The book addresses major components of…

Commonly used literacy motivation assessments do not specifically explore literacy motivation in school. These context-general assessments may be problematic for struggling adolescent readers, as qualitative research documents that these adolescents exhibit different levels of cross-context motivation. The present study explores whether an…

A mixed method study explored a theoretical model that employed, combined, and added to the theories of self-determination, the reading engagement perspective, and the four-phase model of interest to motivate adolescent struggling readers to read for pleasure. The model adds to the existing body of research because it specifies an instructional…

This article presents a case study of development of reading identity in Angelica, a 15 year old Latina. The paper explores the literacy experiences in school that positioned Angelica as a struggling reader. It also examines the efforts of significant others in school and out-of-school contexts, as well as her own efforts, to contest this…

Lack of reading motivation impedes upper elementary and secondary school students' willingness to improve critical reading skills and strategies to be successful in school. Struggling readers often show a negative attitude towards reading tasks and manifest low motivation to read. Although the importance of motivation is clear, there is limited…

Lack of reading motivation impedes upper elementary and secondary school students' willingness to improve critical reading skills and strategies to be successful in school. Struggling readers often show a negative attitude towards reading tasks and manifest low motivation to read. Although the importance of motivation is clear, there is limited…

This randomized controlled study examines the effects of an intervention, Fusion Reading, on the reading achievement and motivation of adolescent struggling readers. Fusion Reading was implemented in grades 6 through 10 in four middle schools and three high schools from three districts in the southeast and western Michigan. Eligible struggling…