Effects of Accelerated reader on reading motivation and achievement of fourth grade students

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of Accelerated Reader on the reading motivation and achievement of fourth grade students. The participants were 68 fourth grade students who attended an elementary school in a suburban location north of a large Midwestern city. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in the investigation to understand and analyze the effects of the program.Quantitative methods utilized a pre/post-test design using the Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, & Mazzzoni, 1996) to assess motivation and the STAR Reading Diagnostic Test (Renaissance Learning, 2002) to measure achievement through instructional reading levels. Participants were divided into three groups based upon the total number of Accelerated Reader points they had accumulated during a continuous 14 week period. Analyses compared the differences in gains in motivation and reading achievement among the groups. The only significant effect noted was that the higher the number of Accelerated Reader points accumulated, the smaller the decrease in motivational scores. A comparison of the number of books read among the groups revealed the group obtaining the highest number of points read significantly more books than the group with lowest.Qualitative measures consisted of the administration of the Conversational Interview portion of the Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell, et al., 1996) to nine students, three randomly selected from each of the previously established groups. Interviews were conducted to gain information concerning students' motivation for reading through the construction of theories based upon consistencies and differences among and between groups' responses. The categories within which all themes were grouped included motivations for book selections, reasons for reading, and the amount of knowledge retained through reading. Very little mention of Accelerated Reader was made in any portion of the interview sessions.Department of Elementary EducationThesis (Ph. D.