The impacts of statewide benchmark reading tests on the motivations to read of students in grades 4–8
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of fourth through eighth grade students related to their motivations to read and the impacts that standardized benchmark reading tests have on their reading motivations. Much debate among educational experts and politicians has focused on the standardized testing regimens required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This study attempts to shed some light on student perspectives of the tests and to invite them to be participants in these debates. Selected from a group of 515 students who completed the Motivation to Read Profile (Baker & Wigfield, 1999), eleven student participants engaged in a series of three in-depth interviews (Seidman, 1998) exploring their motivations to read, their experiences with standardized benchmark reading tests, and the impacts the tests have on students' motivations to engage in reading. A whole group examination of in-depth interview participants' views is presented, along with three individual case studies done in greater depth. Findings indicate that participants' main motivations to engage in reading include choice of text, personal interest, and compliance with others' demands. Students believe that the tests involve high stakes for class placement and their futures. Impacts of standardized benchmark reading tests include the view of many participants that (1) the tests and the scores they receive on them are irrelevant to how they see themselves as readers, (2) the test texts and questions do not motivate them through interest or choice, but for compliance purposes, thereby limiting engagement and involvement with test texts, (3) the test texts and questions are artificial and often far removed from the real reading they do in the classroom or on their own, (4) the test questions are convergent, expect a single correct interpretation of a given text, rather than encouraging higher-level questions which may require multiple interpretations, and (5) the tests do not measure characteristics of good readers such as a love of reading and reading often across a variety of genres. Recommendations for education are offered and implications for further research are addressed.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Cox, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Educational evaluation|Literacy|Reading instruction|Curricula|Teaching
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