"Just plain reading": A survey of what makes students want to read in middle school classrooms

Middle school students are often characterized as disinterested readers (Mc Kenna, Kear, & Ellsworth, 1995), yet studies of adolescent reading typicall y do not feature students' voices about classroom practices (Alvermann, 199 8). This study used students as primary informants about what motivates the m to read in their middle school classrooms. We surveyed 1,765 sixth-grade students in reading/language arts classrooms in 23 diverse schools in the m id-Atlantic and northeastern United States. Students described how classroo m environments motivated their reading through open-ended responses, short answers, and checklist items. To obtain richer data about positive instruct ional environments, we conducted follow-up interviews with 31 students in 3 classrooms in which students reported high engagement with reading. Using qualitative methodology, we conducted a content analysis of the survey resp onses and compared these findings with the interview data. We identified se veral overall findings about positive features of instruction, First, stude nts valued independent reading and the teacher reading out loud as part of instructional time. Second, when asked what they liked most about time spen t in the class, students focused more on the act of reading itself or perso nal reasons for reading rather than on social aspects or activities related to reading. Third, when students were asked what motivated them to read at school, they emphasized quality and diversity of reading materials rather than classroom setting or other people. When considering how middle school classrooms measure up, issues emerged about access to reading materials in the classroom and lack of diverse reading materials at school. These findin gs raise questions about the range of materials used for middle school read ing/ language arts instruction and the place and purpose of student indepen dent reading.