Lack of Reading Motivation

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Lack of Reading Motivation The crisis of student motivation for reading is reflected in one simple fact. Students do not spend any significant portion of their free time reading. As cited by Gambrell (1996), in a study conducted by Veeman, the teachers rank motivating students as one of their primary and overriding concerns. The ability to read efficiently and effectively has clear implications for a student's overall academic performance. Some students acquire the necessary prerequisite skills and become proficient readers, whereas others do not. These students are commonly referred to as "poor readers" (Spear-Swerling & Sternberg, 1994). According to some estimates, reading problems affect as many as 10 million children in the United States alone (Simos et al., 2002). For those children who encounter difficulties in acquiring reading skills, the long-term consequences of reading failure are tremendous (Cunningham & Stanovich, 2001; Torgesen, 2000). Students who struggle with reading in the early grades are unlikely to improve considerably over time; fewer than one child in eight who is failing to read by the end of first grade ever catches up to grade level (Juel, 1988; Torgesen & Burgess, 1998). The rationale for early reading intervention is sound and, if implemented effectively, should reduce considerably the number of poor readers at the middle-school level. However, there are now and will continue to be middle-school students who struggle with reading and learning from text because of reading disabilities, reading problems, and inadequate instruction (Greene, 1998; Williams, Brown, Silverstein, & deCani, 1994). For these students, effective content area reading instruction must be addressed. Poor readers are the children that most likely are often unmotivated to read (Chapman, 1988). Also, according to Chapman, children with learning and behavioral
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