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…

Children's attitudes towards, and frequency of recreational reading influence their reading skill level. The aim of this study was to determine the relative influence of research-supported intrinsic and extrinsic variables that can shape this attitude and practice, and to investigate the use of artificial neural network as an adjunct approach in…

This study examined the recreational reading habits of 10- to 12-year-old students enrolled in one of the nine Gifted Education Program (GEP) schools in Singapore. A total of 125 students were surveyed regarding the time they spent on recreational reading, and the top and bottom 10% were labeled Highly Avid Readers (HAR) and Less Avid Readers…

This paper examines the relation between children's summer activities before fourth through sixth grade and their vocabulary knowledge in fifth grade and at age fifteen using the NICHD SECCYD dataset (N = 1,009). We used OLS regression and propensity score analyses to understand how children's summer reading, library visits, participation in…

Teachers, parents, and librarians are constantly looking for methods and materials that engage students as readers and motivate them to increase the time they spend reading. In this article we describe findings from a study of middle schoolers' magazine reading habits that gave us a close look at the power of magazines as supplemental supports for…

Throughout the history of education, it has been noted that teachers are influential people in lives of children (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; Daisey, 2010; Gambrell, 1996; Ruddell, 1995). Children spend one-third (or more) of the day with teachers; and as they enter into adolescence, children come in contact with more and more teachers during…

This study extended the research of Aiken (2006), which originally examined the reading motivation, attitudes, and habits for a cohort of 6th grade readers from an affluent suburban community. The purpose of this research was to investigate if the students' self-concepts as readers and values of reading have changed from their 6th grade year…

Research suggests that independent reading outside of school is a strong indicator of school and reading success. However, studies also suggest that student recreational reading significantly decreases in the middle school years. This article explores some of the reasons adolescent students choose to read independently or are reluctant to do so.…

This study described and compared the reading of sixth and eighth grade students both in and out of school using a unique data set collected with the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). On average, students read forty minutes a day out of class and seventeen minutes a day in class indicating that reading is a common leisure practice for…

All sixth grade pupils in the largest elementary school in New Orleans were involved in a study to assess the effects of social reinforcement on the use of library books. The number of library books used by both experimental and control groups was ascertained and compared. Standard arithmetic procedures were used to establish baseline,…

Describes a nationwide survey of the voluntary reading interests and habits of Jamaican children to discover the specific reading interests of sixth graders relative to the known reading interests of their peers in North America and the United Kingdom. Discusses the role of gender and geography. (Author/LRW)

Students in sixth and ninth grades were surveyed to determine attitudes toward reading and identify factors in the lives of older children and teens associated with the development of a love of reading. A group of 14 students who love to read, as well as an equal number of students who prefer not to read, were then interviewed about their reading…

Recreational reading habits of grade six students were investigated in relation to certain teacher factors and personal factors of students. (JH)

Reports on a study of grade 6 reluctant readers, identifying factors that served as barriers to the students' voluntary reading habits, finding them varied and complex. Points to several areas in which schools can promote voluntary reading, including choices in instructional reading, opportunities to read for enjoyment, and access to high-interest…

A study was conducted to draw attention to how sixth graders use their leisure time and to suggest some implications for reading and literacy instruction. Subjects were 723 sixth-grade students in six middle schools in Northern California. The sixth-graders completed the California Media and Library Educators Association Literature/Reading Survey…