Student success is closely related to student engagement and literacy instruction, which can positively or negatively impact a student. It has been documented that children motivated to read have a strong sense of reading efficacy and academic competence (Wigfield et al., 2015). This research study addressed the skills needed by literacy…

This study examined English Language Arts teachers' reading engagement and reading motivation and how these correlated with student achievement scores on the 2023 Georgia Milestones. The researcher used the Adult Motivation to Read Scale (Schutte & Malouff, 2007) to obtain teacher-provided data on questions pertaining to teachers' reading…

The current study's purpose was to validate a revised Story World Absorption Scale (SWAS; Kuijpers et al., 2014) as a measure of habitual adolescent reading engagement. This approach to measuring reading engagement reflects the multidimensionality and theoretical alignment that is currently missing from the reading engagement literature.…

This dissertation investigates the efficacy of LitFit, an innovative reading workshop program, in enhancing the reading skills and habits of male high school students in a rural setting. The study addresses the critical issue of lower reading proficiency among male students, a demographic that has historically received limited attention in English…

African American males often struggle with reading motivation and reading achievement. The problem addressed in this research study was that low reading motivation in African American males is associated with low scoring on standardized and summative reading assessments. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the reading…

Elementary students' literacy skills are decreasing nationwide ("The Nation's Report Card," 2019). This is concerning because as literacy skills slip, the literacy demands for American workers are steadily increasing (OECD, 2013). Unfortunately, adding to the situation is the fact that students' attitudes towards reading are worsening…

Motivation and engagement are often barriers to literacy for adolescent readers. Traditionally, the graphic novel has been seen as easy to read and a resource that only has value for students with language difficulties or learning challenges. This qualitative case study investigated how middle school readers' ability to make meaning contributed to…

Readers read for different purposes and the texts they read vary in topic and difficulty. These situational factors influence standards of coherence--how much understanding a reader aims to have for a given text. Three studies examined whether individual differences in reader-based standards of coherence influenced off-line and on-line…

In order to succeed in college, students need to be able to read closely, critically, and independently. Unfortunately, large scale studies of graduating high school students in the United States have indicated that many are underprepared for college and career reading. When these students enter college, they often find themselves in a space that…

One in seventy-five college students sustains at least one mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) each academic year. Individuals with TBI, including mTBI, tend to have difficulties with passage comprehension and reading rate, along with reporting reading to be effortful. As reading is fundamental to students' academic success, contributors to reading…

Through qualitative coding and analysis of 121 literacy narratives, this study examines first-year college students' references to former reading sponsors, defined as the people, institutions, and entities that played a role in their reading development. The study was designed to locate the sponsors present in the narratives, to determine patterns…

Reading has been found to not only build student motivation but to increase community involvement in education (Hudson & Williams, 2015). Children who grow into lifelong readers were less likely to be incarcerated, became more successful members of society, and created greater futures for themselves and their families (Obama, 2013). With…

The purpose of this mixed-methods, action research study, with a convergent design, is to improve student literacy achievement within a Mississippi school district, through the exploration of reading volume, motivation, and family connections. This study uses qualitative and quantitative data to provide an in-depth look into the phenomenon of…

The purpose of this phenomenological case study is to explore the reading attitudes and decision-making skills of college freshmen enrolled in remedial language arts courses. The theoretical framework guiding this study is qualitative phenomenology explained by Baxter and Jack (2008). This specific type of research "provides tools for…

This qualitative dominant mixed-methods study explored reading motivation among high school English learners whose first language was Spanish. Latina/o English learners (N = 87) from four southeastern, suburban high schools took part. The study utilized survey data to test for significant differences across demographic sectors and to group…