Motivating struggling high school readers to change their attitudes toward reading

This capstone was the author\u27s journey to examine motivation for struggling special education reading students. It sought to analyze teacher frustration regarding how to influence students to change their attitudes. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well as self-efficacy, diversity, learning style, and classroom atmosphere framed the context for this study. Influential experts included Intrator, Allen, Jensen, Wigfield, Ginsberg, and Trelease. In addition, Gallagher and Lyons assisted the author in review of the dynamic elements of teacher-student interaction, which included curriculum authenticity, reading innovation, and purposeful reading. The author\u27s own case study in the classroom, coupled with qualitative research, supported the assertion that effective strategies can be used with struggling readers to influence change. The author concluded that the implementation of curriculum using research-based instruction can positively influence students to change their attitudes toward reading