Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Prince, Debra L.

Committee Member

Taggart, Amanda S.

Committee Member

Brocato, D. Kay

Committee Member

Pope, Margaret

Date of Degree

5-11-2013

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Education Administration

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Educational Leadership

Abstract

The importance of reading proficiency is unquestioned. Although the nation has set a goal for all students to be proficient in reading, many of the nation’s students are not proficient readers. The vast majority of research examining reading proficiency and reading achievement has concentrated on the cognitive aspects of reading and the use of scientifically based reading interventions. However, there is a body of literature that suggests that reading achievement is related to attitudes toward reading. The purpose of this study was to determine the recreational and academic reading attitudes of a group of sixth-grade students and to determine if their attitudes toward reading were related to measures of their reading achievement. This study was guided by seven research questions and utilized three research designs. Descriptive research was used to answer research questions one and two which sought to determine the recreational and academic reading attitudes of the sixth grade students participating in this study. Causal comparative research was used to answer research questions three and four which compared measures of academic and recreational reading attitudes by gender and ethnicity. Research questions five, six, and seven were answered using correlational research to determine if measures of reading attitudes were related to the scores on the language arts portion of the MCT2. The results of data analyzed to answer the research questions revealed that overall the sixth grade participants in this study had reading attitudes that were less than positive. The results also revealed that males had reading attitudes that were more positive than females. The results of the analysis of reading attitudes by ethnicity revealed that African American students had higher measures of positive recreational reading attitudes than Caucasian students and the students in the other ethnic group while Caucasian students had higher measures of positive academic reading attitudes than African American students and students in the other ethnic group. The only significant relationship discovered between measures of reading attitude and MCT2 scores was a very weak relationship between measures of academic reading attitudes and the language arts section of the MCT2. The study concludes with recommendations for further research.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/17658

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