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 have consistently scored lower than their peers on national reading assessments for the last 50 years (Ladd, 2017). These readers are among many students who find their reading motivation wanes as they matriculate through school. Reading attitudes of middle schoolers are also generally negative. This qualitative case study…

This study aimed to investigate the effect of using authentic materials on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' reading comprehension, reading motivation, and reading anxiety. In this study, 58 Iranian male EFL learners were selected and randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. Both groups were pretested through a reading…

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a collaborative inquiry group of middle school ELA teachers who were utilizing the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) framework to create a virtual library of e-books, examine students' reading motivation data, and implement classroom practices intended to increase student reading value, motivation,…

This single instrument case study illuminates the aesthetic transactions an adolescent male student constructs in response to an experimental Gothic studies reading unit implemented by his cooperating teacher over a sixth month period in his seventh grade ELA (English/ Language Arts) class. Ray is described as ''lazy' regarding academic reading…

Reading motivation declines across elementary school. Although a substantive body of empirical work exists specific to the reading motivation of older children, researchers have paid less attention to younger readers. Given that children's perceptions of school experiences shape motivation, and motivation impacts achievement, it is imperative that…

This intervention mixed methods study used a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effects of an after-school book club on third-grade boys' reading achievement, attitudes, and preferences. During the 2015-2016 school year, seven third-grade boys from a South Texas elementary school attended an after-school book club in their school library…

Boys' literacy has been, and continues to be, an area of concern for educationalists at all levels. The decline in boys' reading, which may have negative consequences for their learning, becomes more marked as they get older. This project examined possible reasons for this and implemented strategies designed to increase Year 13 boys' reading. The…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to describe the motivation to read of elementary African American and Hispanic boys and explore the possible differences in reading motivation using the constructs of self-perceptions as a reader and value of reading. Educational research has repeatedly shown that students from disadvantaged minority…

A great deal of attention is being paid to the lack of reading and academic success for adolescent males. In this article, we discuss three structures in a school where boys read (and perform) as well as girls. When instruction is guided by inquiry, when teachers model their thinking while reading, and when book choices are honored, all students…

This study explores the relationship between academic achievement and reading motivation among adolescent boys. We seek to understand (1) if motivational construct scores change meaningfully over time, (2) what relationship exists between the achievement scores and reported reading motivation, and (3) if students who report higher reading…

Using 18 weeks of classroom data from a much larger ethnographic study, Kirkland examines the reading ideologies influencing the literacy engagement of a young Black male, Derrick. (To protect participants' identities, this article uses pseudonyms in place of participants' actual names.) In doing so, Kirkland theorizes about how young Black males…

This study of adolescent boys' literacy builds on motivation theory and uses the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire (Wigfield, Guthrie, & McGough, 1996) as a foundation. Survey and achievement data were collected from 330 students and eight teachers at a Catholic, all-boys high-school. Results suggest that the motivational constructs…

Reading with Junior is a program that teams up a Grade 3 male elementary school pupil with reading difficulties--or with no motivation to read--with a parent (preferably a father) and a male student in a preschool and elementary school teaching program. The pupil's role was simply to participate in the project; the university student's role was to…

Although graphic novels are an increasingly popular literary format, there is currently little empirical research that documents their use with struggling male adolescent readers in school settings. The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the ways in which four struggling, eighth-grade, male readers responded to graphic novels…