ABSTRACT

Prior research indicates that students enter school with high levels of reading motivation, but levels begin to decline as soon as second grade. However, most studies rely on predominately White samples. This exploratory study uses a large dataset to examine self-report reading motivation levels for students of varying racial/ethnic and immigrant backgrounds. Results show that self-report reading motivation levels are high for all students and decline from third to eighth grade. When data is disaggregated self-report reading motivation levels are higher among Black and Hispanic students than among Whites. Students from first and second generation immigrant backgrounds have similar levels of self-report reading motivation levels as their native counterparts. Two main policy implications emerge: (1) early reading interventions can potentially leverage the relatively high reading motivation levels reported by young children; and (2) stakeholders should be aware when implementing programs that students regardless of immigrant background and race/ethnicity have high levels of reading motivation.

摘要

先前的研究表明，学生进入学校时阅读动机水平很高，但从二年级开始水平就开始下降。然而，大多数研究主要依赖于白人样本。这项探索性研究使用大型数据集来检查不同种族/民族和移民背景的学生的自我报告阅读动机水平。结果表明，所有学生的自我报告阅读动机水平都很高，并且从三年级到八年级有所下降。当数据被分解时，黑人和西班牙裔学生的自我报告阅读动机水平高于白人。来自第一代和第二代移民背景的学生与他们的本土学生具有相似的自我报告阅读动机水平。出现了两个主要的政策影响：(1) 早期阅读干预可以潜在地利用幼儿报告的相对较高的阅读动机水平；(2) 利益相关者在实施计划时应意识到，无论移民背景和种族/民族如何，学生都有很高的阅读动机。