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Instructional Contexts for Engagement and Achievement in Reading

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Handbook of Research on Student Engagement

Abstract

In this chapter, we review research on students’ engagement in reading activities and how classroom instructional practices influence engagement in reading and other academic activities. We define engaged readers as motivated to read, strategic in their approaches to reading, knowledgeable in their construction of meaning from text, and socially interactive while reading. We present a conceptual model of reading engagement linking classroom practices directly and indirectly to students’ motivation to read, behavioral engagement in reading, and reading achievement. A major premise of this model is that behavioral engagement in reading mediates the effects of classroom practices on reading outcomes. We present evidence from a variety of experimental and correlational studies documenting the direct and indirect links among classroom practices, motivation, behavioral engagement, and achievement outcomes. One reading comprehension instructional program on which we focus is Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction. This program integrates strategy instruction and instructional practices to foster students’ reading motivation, and teaches reading, in particular, in content domains such as science and social studies.

The project described was supported by Grant Number R01HD052590 from the National Institute of Child and Human Development. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development or the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    John T. Guthrie & Allan Wigfield

  2. Department of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Wei You

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  1. John T. Guthrie
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  2. Allan Wigfield
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  3. Wei You
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Correspondence to John T. Guthrie .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, E. River Road 56, Minneapolis, 55455, Minnesota, USA

    Sandra L. Christenson

  2. Dept. Educational Psychology &, Instructional Technology, University of Georgia, Aderhold Hall 325N, Athens, 30602, Georgia, USA

    Amy L. Reschly

  3. Educational Research, New Zealand Council for, Wellington, New Zealand

    Cathy Wylie

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Guthrie, J.T., Wigfield, A., You, W. (2012). Instructional Contexts for Engagement and Achievement in Reading. In: Christenson, S., Reschly, A., Wylie, C. (eds) Handbook of Research on Student Engagement. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_29

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