Effect of an intrinsic motivation reading program on academic achievement

As students enter the middle school years, their motivation to read begins to decline. This lack of motivation to read can lead to low academic achievement. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine if there was a difference between providing students with a reading program aimed to increase students' motivation to read and test score results. The theoretical framework for this study was based on the aspect of the constructivist model which focuses on students' internal motivation to read and gain knowledge and experiences on their own. Study participants were 62 middle school students from a small rural school district; of these 62 students, 31 students participated in an 18-week long reading program focused on improving motivation to read independently. Data were collected from Northwest Evaluation Association's Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) testing to determine whether academics were improved compared with the other 31students who did not participate in the reading program. ANCOVA was conducted on pretest data to determine whether differences existed between groups prior to implementation of reading program. No significant differences were found between groups prior to implementation of reading program. An independent-measures t test was conducted on posttest data to determine if differences existed on MAP post data. Posttest MAP data results indicated significantly improved academic achievement amongst students who participated in the reading motivation program. This study contributes to positive social change by increasing the understanding of the relevance of encouraging students to read for pleasure, which contributes to developing lifelong readers and academic success.