Cover Page. The handle holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation.

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1 Cover Pge The hndle holds vrious files of this Leiden University disserttion. Author: Nielen, Thijs Mrtinus Johnnes Title: Alitercy : cuses nd solutions Issue Dte:

2 Chpter 2 Development of reding motivtion in primry school 14

3 Chpter 2 Development of reding motivtion in primry school Abstrct Interest in reding is importnt for the development of reding skill nd for cdemic nd professionl success. In this cross-sectionl, longitudinl study in 85 Dutch primry schools, we exmined how stble students motivtion for reding is fter the stge of beginning reding instruction. Students were followed from grde 3 to grde 4 (N = 1382) nd from grde 5 to grde 6 (N = 1474). Multilevel regression nlyses were pplied to test whether gender, reding bility, the student s opinion bout the school librry nd dult support influenced reding motivtion. Min results were: (1) reding motivtion declined in the higher grdes of primry school, especilly in groups with low nd verge reding bility, nd (2) the qulity of the school librry is relted to the decline of motivtion even fter controlling for home chrcteristics. Bsed on: Nielen, T. M. J., & Bus, A. G. (2013). Ontwikkeling vn de leesttitude op de bsisschool en de rol vn sekse, leesniveu, de leescultuur thuis en kenmerken vn de schoolbibliotheek. [Development of reding motivtion in primry school nd the role of gender, reding skill, home litercy environment nd school librry chrcteristics]. In D. Schrm (Ed.), De rzelende lezer over de streep: recente wetenschppelijke inzichten [Winning over reluctnt reders: recent scientific insights] (pp ). Delft, Nederlnd: Eburon. Jenne Chll (1983) ws the first to describe the fourth-grde slump, decline in reding skill development tht strts in grde 4. We hypothesize tht there is decline in reding motivtion s well. In prticulr, when students find it hrd to red independently nd comprehend text, there is decline in reding motivtion (e.g., Becker, McElvny, & Kortenbruck, 2010; Mol & Bus, 2011; Morgn & Fuchs, 2007). We therefore expect to find decline in reding motivtion s well s correltions between reding skills nd reding motivtion (Eccles, Wigfield, Hrold, & Blumenfeld, 1993; Pressley, 2006). The literture provides evidence showing tht girls in primry school (grdes 3 to 6; McGeown, Goodwin, Henderson, & Wright, 2012; Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997), dolescence (OECD, 2010) nd dulthood (Miesen, 2006) re more motivted to red thn boys. We expected tht girls show more interest in reding thn boys nd my therefore show less decline in motivtion in the higher grdes of primry eduction. There is indeed evidence tht grde 4 nd 5 girls re more confident bout their reding skills thn boys (Eccles et l., 1993) nd red more thn boys (Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988). Girls in secondry school lso red more often thn boys (Stokmns, 2006). We were especilly interested in the qulity of books in the child s environment s relevnt environmentl fctor tht my influence students reding motivtion. According to Krshen (2011), ccess to lrge collection of interesting books is prmount for the reding development of students. If students cn esily find interesting reding mterils, they will become more enthusistic reders, red more nd their reding performnce will increse. In line with this theory, mny studies hve shown the positive effects of well-equipped school librries on reding chievement (e.g., Frncis, Lnce, & Lietzu, 2010; Scholstic, 2008). This study ws crried out in schools with more or less improved librry. Some schools hd strted to improve their librry while other schools hd the intention to improve the school librry in the short term but hd not yet begun. It ws expected tht n ttrctive book collection in the school librry my ffect students interest in reding. Testing ws therefore conducted to determine if reding motivtion is influenced by whether students consider the book collection in the school librry s ttrctive. Testing the role of the school librry, we controlled for chrcteristics of the home environment tht seem to explin students interest in reding. When prents model reding behvior in their leisure time, children seem to be more enthusistic nd better reders (Bråten, Lie, Andressen, & Olussen, 1999; Mol & Bus, 2011). There is lso evidence tht prents cn stimulte the child s enthusism for reding by discussing the books tht their child reds (Bker, 2003). Experimentl evidence for 16 17

4 Chpter 2 Development of reding motivtion in primry school the importnce of dult support t home comes from studies tht ddress the summer reding gp (Kim & White, 2008, 2011). We ssessed whether prents discuss books with their child s n indictor of stimulting homes. Method Design Questionnires were dministered in 87 schools in grdes 3 nd 5 in November nd December 2010 nd yer lter in grdes 4 nd 6 to the sme students. A crosssectionl nd longitudinl design were combined. In the first phse, students in grdes 3 nd 5 prticipted nd yer lter the sme students prticipted in grdes 4 nd 6. Prticipnts In this study prticipted students from 87 primry schools from ll over the country, including schools for specil eduction, schools with religious foundtion, Montessori schools nd public schools. The number of prticipnts per clssroom vried probbly due to the techers willingness to invest in the study. Students were only included in the dt nlyses (N = 2,856) if they hd completed the questionnires t both time points (grde 3 nd 4 or grde 5 nd 6). Prticipnts were excluded if they hd filled in the questionnire t single time point (N = 1248) or did not finish the questionnire t one of the time points (N = 195). Mesurement instruments Reding motivtion. The reding ttitude scle of Arnoutse (1990) ws used to mesure reding motivtion. The questionnire contins 27 dichotomous (yes/no) items such s: Do you like reding? nd Do you only red t school becuse you hve to? Relibility of the scle ws stisfctory (α =.92). A higher score indictes more interest in reding. Time nd cohort. Bsed on the group chrcteristics we hve creted two vribles: vrible time tht indictes the time of mesurement (grdes 3/5 versus grdes 4/6), nd cohort tht indictes which ge group (grdes 3/4 versus grdes 5/6). Reding skill. Reding skill ws mesured through single question: How good is your reding skill? (not very good/verge/very good). This is resonble indictor for reding skill becuse students in this ge group re quite cpble of distinguishing their reding skill from their motivtion to red nd cn report their skill level resonbly ccurtely (Eccles et l., 1993). School librry. Students were sked to evlute the librry t school choosing from three options: We do not hve school librry / I do not like to go there / I like to go there. We recoded the dt by combining the first two options s n indiction of the lck of n ttrctive librry in the student s opinion. Prentl reding behvior. Students were sked how often their fther or mother reds book (never/sometimes/often). This question provides n indiction for the extent to which prents model reding to the child. Discuss books with prents. To gin insight in the interest tht prents show in their child s reding students were sked: How often do you tlk with your mother or fther bout books? (never/sometimes/often). Procedure The dt ws collected by commercil institute under the uthority of the Ministry of Eduction. The gol of the dt collection ws to pilot instruments tht were developed to evlute the effects of the progrm the Librry t school. At the first mesurement (grdes 3 nd 5), students completed the reding ttitude scle nd number of questions not included in this report. At the second mesurement, students completed questionnire ddressing reding motivtion, reding skill, opinion bout the school librry, prentl reding behvior, nd frequency of discussing books with prents. Dt nlysis We pplied multilevel regression nlyses to control for the nesting of the mesures: the two time points (level 1) within students (level 2) nd the nesting of students within schools (level 3). Results Missing dt In totl there were 3,599 respondents who filled in the questionnire t time point 1 nd 2,856 of these respondents filled in the questionnire t time point 2 s well. In ddition, there ws group of respondents who filled in the questionnire t the second, but not t the first time point (n = 625). Bsed on the number of respondents t the first time point, 20.6% of the respondents dropped out during the study, percentge comprble to other lrge scle longitudinl studies in the field of reding 18 19

5 Chpter 2 Development of reding motivtion in primry school (cf. Allington et l., 2010; Kim & White, 2008). Given tht substntil number of respondents were not included in the finl nlyses, we tested whether the reding motivtion of these respondents differed from the reding motivtion of respondents who completed both questionnires. The reding motivtion of students who filled in the questionnire on the first time point but not on the second time point (M = 16.58, SD = 6.85) ws slightly lower thn the reding motivtion t the first time point of those students who filled in the questionnire t both time points (M = 17.20, SD = 6.85; t (3597) = 2.17, p =.03, d =.09). There ws no difference t the second time point between the students who filled in the questionnire only t the second time point (M = 16.65, SD = 7.02) nd the students who filled in the questionnire t both points (M = 17.01, SD = 7.16; t (3479) = 1.14, p =.26). In sum, the group of respondents who dropped out of the study seems to be comprble to the group of respondents included in the further nlyses. Descriptive sttistics See Tble 1 for n overview of the number of respondents in ech cohort, ge, gender, nd the rnge of prticipnts per school. The nswers on the questions bout reding skill, the school librry, nd dult support re displyed in Tble 2. Spermn rnk correltions between the study vribles t the second time point re provided in Tble 3. The negtive correltion between cohort nd reding motivtion (r = -.12) indictes tht students in the second cohort (grde 6) were less motivted to red thn students in the first cohort (grde 4). Girls were more motivted to red thn boys (r =.28), better reders were more motivted to red thn less proficient reders (r =.33), students who considered the school librry ttrctive were more motivted to red thn students who did not (r =.20), nd finlly, students who received dult support were more motivted to red thn students without dult support (r =.20 for modeling nd r =.41 for discussing books). Furthermore, it is noteworthy tht older students vlued the school librry less (r = -.15) nd discussed books with their prents less often (r = -.17), tht prents who red more lso discussed more books with their children (r =.20), nd tht more discussion bout books with prents ws relted to more pprecition for the school librry (r =.16). Tble 1 School nd student chrcteristics. Grde 3 Grde 4 Grde 5 Grde 6 N M ge (SD ge ) 8.34 (.55) 9.27 (.53) (.55) (.52) Age rnge % girls 51% 52% K 78 b 81 b Rnge n per school Averge N per school (SD) (12.85) (11.15) Identicl for grdes 3-4 nd grdes 5-6. b The number of schools differs between the two cohorts nd from the totl number of schools becuse no prticipnts remined fter pplying the exclusion criteri for some schools or grde levels. Tble 2 Descriptive sttistics for the ctegoricl vribles. Vrible Ctegories Percentge of respondents Reding skill Not very good 5.6 Averge 55.9 Very good 38.5 Prentl reding behvior Never 15.3 Sometimes 42.7 Often 42.0 Discuss books with prents Never 43.0 Sometimes 48.8 Often 8.2 Opinion bout school librry Not ttrctive 38.4 Attrctive 61.6 Tble 3 Spermn correltions between the reding ttitude scle nd the independent vribles t the second time point Reding ttitude scle - 2. Cohort -.12 *** - 3. Gender.28 ***.02-4 Reding skill.33 *** * - 5. School librry.20 *** -.15 ***.07 *** Prentl reding behvior.20 *** -.04 * *** Discuss books with prents.41 *** -.17 ***.12 ***.11 ***.20 ***.16 ***

6 Chpter 2 Development of reding motivtion in primry school Intrclss correltion The intrclss correltion (ICC) is mesure for the vrince ccounted for by the nested structure of the dt. The nesting of time points within individuls is required by the longitudinl design nd explined 59% of the vrince. The nesting of students within schools resulted in significnt improvement of the model fit (see model 1 nd model 2 in Tble 4; χ 2 = 20.10, p <.001) nd explined n dditionl 2% of the vrince in reding motivtion. We therefore included rndom intercept both t the student nd school level in the nlyses. Development of reding motivtion We regressed reding motivtion on time (first versus second point of mesurement), cohort (younger versus older), gender, reding skill, the students vlution of the school librry, prentl reding behvior, nd finlly the discussion bout books Tble 4 Multilevel regression models with reding motivtion s outcome mesure. Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Number of prmeters Fixed effects Intercept (.12) *** (.17) *** 7.75 (.38) *** 9.03 (.43) *** Time -.19 (.12) (.40) *** Cohort -.44 (.21) * -.13 (.24) Gender 3.02 (.20) *** 2.94 (.23) *** Reding skill 2.88 (.17) *** 2.50 (.20) *** School librry 1.89 (.23) *** 1.34 (.26) *** Prentl reding behvior 1.02 (.14) ***.97 (.16) *** Discuss books with prents 2.50 (.17) *** 1.72 (.19) *** Time*Cohort -.63 (.23) ** Time*Gender.15 (.23) Time*Reding skill.74 (.20) *** Time*School librry 1.10 (.24) *** Time*Pr. Reding behvior.10 (.16) Time*Discuss books with pr (.19) *** Rndom effects Residul (.51) *** (.51) *** (.51) *** (.48) *** Student level (1.08) *** (1.07) *** (.76) *** (.76) *** School level.99 (.36) ** 1.19 (.34) *** 1.19 (.34) *** Model fit sttistics -2 Log Likelihood 37, , , , AIC 37, , , , BIC 37, , , , with prents. In ddition, the interctions between time nd the other independent vribles were included to see which fctors influence the development of reding motivtion. The multilevel regression models re displyed in Tble 4. Model 1 is the bsic model without predictors nd without rndom intercept for school; in model 2 we included rndom intercept for school. All predictors were included in model 3, while in model 4, we dded the interctions between time nd the other predictors. Ech model fits significntly better thn the previous model (χ 2 > 20.10, p <.001). We found min effects for both gender nd prentl reding behvior. These min effects show tht girls re more motivted to red thn boys ( difference of pproximtely 3 points on the reding ttitude scle) nd tht students whose prents model reding behvior tend to be more interested in reding. The lck of n interction between these fctors nd time shows tht they hve no influence on the development of reding motivtion. Wht this mens is tht, even though girls nd children from prents who red more often re more motivted to red, their motivtion develops in similr wy to the motivtion of boys or children from prents who red less often. The motivtion of not very proficient reders strts to decline hlfwy through primry school nd this decline continues in lter grdes (see Figure 1). For verge reders, motivtion remins stble in grdes 3 nd 4 but strts to decline from grde 5 to 6. Finlly, very good reders become more motivted to red from grde 3 to grde 4 nd their motivtion remins high in grdes 5 nd 6. Figure 1. The development of reding motivtion for different levels of reding skill

7 Chpter 2 Development of reding motivtion in primry school Figure 2 shows the interction between the students evlution of the school librry nd the development of reding motivtion. The motivtion of students who considered the school librry to be ttrctive incresed from grde 3 to 4 nd remined stble from grde 5 to 6. For students who reported regrding the school librry s not ttrctive, reding motivtion declined from grdes 3 to grde 4 nd from grde 5 to grde 6. When students reported discussing books with their prents, they were more motivted to red wheres the motivtion of children without such experiences declined. Furthermore, the motivtion grew stronger when prents often discussed books with their children (see Figure 3). Discussion Figure 2. The development of reding motivtion for students who think the school librry is ttrctive or not ttrctive seprtely. Figure 3. The development of reding motivtion for different levels of discussing books with prents. Students reding motivtion declines over the course of primry school. Findings fit the model tht less proficient reders re less motivted to red nd their reding motivtion strongly declines from n erly ge, wheres students who report being proficient reders re more motivted to red nd remin enthusistic reders (e.g., Mol & Bus, 2011; Morgn & Fuchs, 2007; Stnovich, 1986). The finding tht motivtion nd reding skill re relted cn be interpreted in vrious wys but it is most plusible tht the reltionship is reciprocl (Mol & Bus, 2011). As expected, girls were overll more motivted to red thn boys but the development of reding motivtion is very similr for boys nd girls. Reciprocl reltions re lso plusible for the reltions between reding motivtion nd the school librry. If, for instnce, the school librry is well-equipped nd students cn esily find books mtching their reding level nd interests, this will likely result in more motivtion to red. Vice vers, if students re very motivted to red, they re likely to put effort into finding reding mterils tht interest them even if the school librry is poorly equipped. The home environment, though, is relevnt fctor s well. Students who discuss books with their prents re more motivted to red thn students who do not. However, even when controlling for the home conditions, effects of the school librry remin. The decline in reding motivtion my finlly result in discontinution of reding. Hlf of the Dutch 15-yer olds report tht they never, or hrdly ever, red in their leisure time (OECD, 2010). Mny students thus fce wht Boorstin (1984) described s litercy : These students hve the bility to red but do not prctice reding. This lck of reding prctice in leisure time hs negtive consequences for cdemic nd 24 25

8 Chpter 2 Development of reding motivtion in primry school professionl development (Gottfried, Schlckmn, Gottfried, & Boutin-Mrtinez, 2015; OECD, 2010; Tylor, 2013). It is therefore vitl to provide more support for students so they become enthusistic reders. The current findings corroborte the importnce of the school librry. It seems obvious tht students who re more motivted to red tend to consider the school librry s more ttrctive, becuse students who like to red will probbly put more effort into finding interesting reding mterils even in poorly equipped librry (e.g., Clrk, 2010). A more surprising outcome is tht the development of reding motivtion is more positive s students perceive the school librry s more ttrctive. This suggests, in line with Krshen (2011), tht ccess to n ttrctive book collection is vitl for reding motivtion. It should be noted, however, tht in the present study the ttrctiveness of the school librry is not mesured by objective chrcteristics. It my be interesting to further explore which chrcteristics of the school librry (e.g., the number of books per student, the vriety in genres) ffect students reding motivtion. Our findings support the importnce of the home environment nd in prticulr discussing books with the prents. Such prentl support seems to be protective fctor ginst the decline in reding motivtion t the end of primry school but only occurs in 60% of the homes. Limittions nd conclusion The min limittion of the present study is tht most predictors re mesured with single question t the second time point. Despite this limittion, the present study is the first to provide insight in the development of reding motivtion in lrge smple in Dutch primry schools. Aprt from gender nd reding proficiency, we found support for the hypothesis tht the qulity of the school librry mkes difference even fter controlling for fmily litercy (McGeown et l., 2012; Mol & Bus, 2011; Morgn & Fuchs, 2007; Stokmns, 2006). Improvement of the school librry seems n importnt inducement for students to become enthusistic nd skilled reders. References Arnoutse, C. A. J. (1990). Woordenschttest en leesttitudeschl. [Vocbulry test nd reding ttitude scle]. Lisse, The Netherlnds: Swets & Zeitlinger. Allington, R. L., McGill-Frnzen, A., Cmilli, G., Willims, L., Grff, J., Zeig, J.,... Nowk, R. (2010). Addressing summer reding setbck mong economiclly disdvntged elementry students. Reding Psychology, 31(5), doi: / Anderson, R. C., Wilson, P. T., & Fielding, L. G. (1988). Growth in reding nd how children spend their time outside of school. Reding Reserch Qurterly, 23, doi: /RRQ Bker, L. (2003). The role of prents in motivting struggling reders. Reding nd Writing Qurterly, 19, doi: / Becker, M., McElvny, N., & Kortenbruck, M. (2010). Intrinsic nd extrinsic reding motivtion s predictors of reding litercy: A longitudinl study. Journl of Eductionl Psychology, 102(4), doi: / Boorstin, D. J. (1984). Books in our future. Wshington: U.S. Government Printing Office. Bråten, I., Lie, A., Andressen, R., & Olussen, B. S. (1999). Leisure time reding nd orthogrphic processes in word recognition mong Norwegin third- nd fourth-grde students. Reding nd Writing, 11(1), doi: /: Chll, J. S. (1983). Stges of reding development. NY: McGrw-Hill. Clrk, C. (2010). Linking school librries nd litercy. Young people s reding hbits nd ttitudes to their school librry, nd n explortion of the reltionship between school librry use nd school ttinment. London: Ntionl Litercy Trust. Eccles, J. S., Wigfield, A., Hrold, R., & Blumenfeld, P. B. (1993). Age nd gender differences in children s self- nd tsk perceptions during elementry school. Child Development, 64(3), doi: / ep Frncis, B. H., Lnce, K. C., & Lietzu, Z. (2010). School librrins continue to help students chieve stndrds: The third Colordo study (2010). Denver, Colordo: Colordo Stte Librry, Librry Reserch Service. Gottfried, A. W., Schlckmn, J., Gottfried, A. E., & Boutin-Mrtinez, A. S. (2015). Prentl provision of erly litercy environment s relted to reding nd eductionl outcomes cross the cdemic lifespn. Prenting: Science nd Prctice, 15(1), doi: / Kim, J. S., & White, T. G. (2008). Scffolding voluntry summer reding for children in grdes 3 to 5: n experimentl study. Scientific Studies of Reding, 12(1), doi: / Kim, J. S., & White, T. G. (2011). Solving the problem of summer reding loss. Phi Delt Kppn, 92, Krshen, S. D. (2011). Free voluntry reding. Snt Brbr, Cliforni: ABC-CLIO, LLC. McGeown, S., Goodwin, H., Henderson, N., & Wright, P. (2012). Gender differences in reding motivtion: does sex or gender identity provide better ccount? Journl of Reserch in Reding, 35(3), doi: /j x Miesen, H. (2006). Vrijetijdslezen en leesbevordering: Socil-psychologische drijfveren chter het literire leesgedrg onderzocht nr geslcht en leeftijd [Reding in leisure time nd promoting reding: Socil-psychologicl motives behind the literry reding behvior studies by gender nd ge]. In D. Schrm & A. Rukem (Eds.), Lezen in de lengte en lezen in de breedte [Reding in the length nd reding in the width] (pp ). Delft, Nederlnd: Eburon. Mol, S. E., & Bus, A. G. (2011). To red or not to red: A met-nlysis of print exposure from infncy to erly dulthood. Psychologicl Bulletin, 137(2), doi: / Morgn, P. L., & Fuchs, D. (2007). Is there bidirectionl reltionship between children s reding skills nd reding motivtion? Exceptionl Children, 73(2), doi: /

9 Chpter 2 OECD. (2010). PISA 2009 Results: Lerning to lern - Student enggement, strtegies nd prctices (Volume III). Retrieved from doi: / en Pressley, M. (2006). Reding instruction tht works: The cse for blnced teching. NY: The Guilford Press. Scholstic. (2008). School librries Work!. Retrieved from collterl_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdf. Stnovich, K. E. (1986). Mtthew effects in reding: some consequences of individul differences in the cquisition of litercy. Reding Reserch Qurterly, 21, Stokmns, M. (2006). Leesttitude: de motor chter leesgedrg?! [Reding ttitude: The driving force behind reding behvior?!] In D. Schrm & A. Rukem (Eds.), Lezen in de lengte en lezen in de breedte [Reding in the length nd reding in the width] (pp ). Delft, Nederlnd: Eburon. Tylor, M. (2013). Reding for plesure in Britin: trends, ptterns, nd ssocitions. University of Oxford. Wigfield, A., & Guthrie, J. T. (1997). Reltions of children s motivtion for reding to the mount nd bredth of their reding. Journl of Eductionl Psychology, 89, doi: /