Statistics on the reading habits of adult Americans are grim. Surveys of teachers reveal inadequate and unimpressive figures in recreational and professional reading and awareness of children's literature. Studies show that, as a whole, teachers are not avid readers. Furthermore, older teachers tend to be more prolific readers of both recreational…

A study investigated how pre-college students enrolled in a summer remedial reading program felt about reading. Subjects, 170 students recently accepted for admission to a large urban university system, were asked their views on (1) reading, (2) school and education, (3) reading instruction, (4) difficulty and enjoyment of reading, and (5) reading…

Uses a small-scale attitude survey to assess children's attitudes to the way reading is taught in England, and examines possible alternatives to existing practice. (RS)

Reports that while an intervention program increased children's library use, it did not affect their attitudes toward reading or their home reading habits. (FL)

Reports results of a study assessing reading maturity among 188 college-bound students in seven small rural schools and compares results to surveys of seventh graders and college freshmen. Describes the 15-minute reading survey completed by the students and lists 15 ways to develop reading maturity in small rural schools. (JHZ)

A review of National Assessment of Educational Progress findings presents a picture of the reading attitudes of a large segment of the American population, and of the relationship between reading attitudes and reading performance. The findings show that a negative attitude toward reading exists, and that it increases with each year spent in…

This study attempted to determine what media most effectively communicated to teenagers, how the media habits of Florida teenagers compared with those in other states, and how the media habits of journalism students compared with those not in journalism. A total of 430 students from Florida high schools and 457 from high schools in other states…

A series of articles explores the role of the school library in generating reading motivation among students, and suggests strategies for changing student and teacher attitudes through cooperative programs with teachers, library activities, special activities for reluctant readers, learning strategies, and computer assisted instruction. An…

Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) has been around in various forms for over 40 years. While this subject has received much study in elementary schools, the influence of SSR on typical, non-at-risk high school students' reading habits appears to be lacking. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of SSR on ninth grade students' recreational…

This study examines how competence beliefs and task values predict high school achievement choices related to literacy. Students' task beliefs (self-concept of ability, intrinsic value, and importance) about reading in the 4th grade and English in the 10th grade were tracked over time. Task beliefs, school performance, and gender were used to…

A practicum was designed to motivate children to read and to read for pleasure. Since reading is considered an important part of the daily curriculum of an elementary school and spills over into every discipline taught, reading appears to be a key to success in all curriculum areas. An in-class model for delivering remedial assistance was used…

A 15-minute reading inventory was administered to 188 students in seven rural districts to assess and compare the reading maturity of the college-bound juniors and seniors in those districts. Results showed that on a leisure reading attitude scale, the college-bound students had an average score of 60 points with 20 being the lowest and 100 the…

This report describes a program implemented to improve attitudes toward recreational reading. The targeted population consisted of kindergarten, first, third, and fifth grade students from one urban and two suburban school districts in a major metropolitan area in northern Illinois. Evidence for the existence of the problem included surveys of…

To investigate adolescent reading habits and interests, a reading interest survey was administered to 103 male and 133 female sophomore English students from two high schools with similar socioeconomic backgrounds but different individualized reading programs. In the first school, students read and made book reports on three novels of their own…

This report describes a program encouraging students to choose reading as a recreational activity. The targeted population consisted of first, second, third, and fourth grade students in a growing middle class community, near a large Midwestern city. The problem of students choosing recreational activities other than reading was documented through…