Book Buddies: Building Better Reading Attitudes

Green Holly Elementary SchoolJean Kim, Kelly Stoeckle & Courtney Tyra

Justification Problem: Low MSA reading test scores Root cause: Lack of reading outside of the

school setting

Strategy Book Buddies program

2nd grade students read to kindergarten & 1st grade students

20 minutes sessions Reading to younger students will hopefully have a

positive effect on students’ attitudes towards reading.

Hearing older students read will hopefully have a positive effect on students’ attitudes towards reading.

Many other school uses Book Buddies program to help students enjoy reading.

Research Question

What effects does a Book Buddy program have on students’

attitudes about reading?

Data collection plan

Data source 1

Data source 2

What effects does a Book Buddy program have on students’ attitudes about reading?

Pre-test reading attitude survey

Post-test reading attitude survey

Pre-post assessment items

The Elementary

Reading Attitude Survey

Example questions

Detailed description of intervention

Pre-InterventionClass descriptions

○ Listeners: two kindergarten classes and one first grade class

○ Readers: three second grade classesSurvey was administered before the first session

○ Listeners were pulled to take the survey in small groups

○ Readers were given the survey as a whole classListeners were instructed on appropriate behaviors

while being read to by readers

Detailed description of Detailed description of interventionintervention

The Intervention Students met two to three times for 20 minute sessions

▪ One session per week over a three week period The readers used a different self-selected book for each

session Students worked in pairs or small groups with at least

one reader and one listener▪ Readers were instructed to read their book to their

listener and discuss the story after reading Teachers monitored the students and reminded them of

the task as necessary

Detailed description of Detailed description of interventionintervention Post- Intervention

Survey was administered after the last session

Listeners were pulled to take the survey in small groups

Readers were given the survey as a whole class

Pre-post findings

Pre-test compared to post-test scores overall Pre-test average score: 16.90Post-test average score: 16.94

○ p= .45 Listeners pre-test compared to post-test

Pre-test average score: 16.81Post-test average score: 16.75

○ P=.44 Readers pre-test compared to post-test

Pre-test average score: 17.02Post-test average score: 17.17

○ P=.38

Pre-post findingsPre-post findings Readers compared to listeners in pre-

test scores Listeners Pre-test average score: 16.81 Readers Pre-test average score: 17.02

▪ p= .37 Readers compared to listeners in post-

test scores Listeners Post-test average score: 16.75 Readers Post-test average score: 17.17

▪ p= .26

Findings from observations Overall, no significant differences were

found between pre and post test scores No significant differences were found between

the listeners pre and post-test scores No significant different differences were found

between the readers pre and post-test scores No significant differences were found between

readers and listeners pre-test scores No significant differences were found between

readers and listeners post-test scores

Answers to research questions

What effects does a Book Buddy program have on students’ attitudes about reading?No significant differences were found in

students’ reading attitudes after the intervention

Limitations Small sample size Inadequate number of sessions Varying grade levels in listening group Response bias Difficulty answering the questions Ceiling effect

Next steps?

Future ResearchLarger sample size Compare only two grade levelsIncreased number of sessionsDecrease the level of difficulty of survey

questions Future research could examine the effects of

Book Buddies on:Time spent reading in and out of school Motivation to readReading self-efficacy

Back to the big picture Although we did not find any significant

effects of our Book Buddies program on student attitudes about reading, there were no significant decreases in attitudes, implying that Book Buddies was not detrimental.

Reference

Bornstein, M. & Lamb, M., (2011). Cognitive development: An advanced textbook. Psychology Press, New York: New York, 158.

McKenna, M. & Kear, D., (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(9), 626-639.