Language Arts Achievement Level, Attitude Survey Format, and Adolescents' Attitudes toward Reading

Smith, Lyle R., Ryan, Bazy E. B., Adolescence

Numerous studies have focused on attitudes toward reading and how to measure such attitudes (e.g., Heathington & Alexander, 1978; Noland & Craft, 1976; Reeves & Thames, 1994; Roettger, 1980). In these studies, little attention focused on the differential impact of survey format on attitudes.

The present study examined the joint effects of attitude survey format and language arts achievement level on attitudes toward reading. A total of 82 sixth graders at a middle school in McDuffie County, Georgia, were involved in the study. All of the students had taken the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) in the fifth grade. The ITBS language arts composite scores were used to classify each student as being above average, average, or below average in language arts achievement. State norms concerning the ITBS were used in the classification process, yielding 30 students with above average scores, 30 students with average scores, and 22 students with below average scores.

Two forms of attitude survey were used. One form used a Likert-type scale with four options: 4 = makes you very happy, 3 = makes …

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Publication information: Article title: Language Arts Achievement Level, Attitude Survey Format, and Adolescents' Attitudes toward Reading. Contributors: Smith, Lyle R. - Author, Ryan, Bazy E. B. - Author. Journal title: Adolescence. Volume: 32. Issue: 126 Publication date: Summer 1997. Page number: 271+. © 1999 Libra Publishers, Inc. COPYRIGHT 1997 Gale Group.

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