Instructor: Martha Maurno Old Dominion University The Impact of High Interest Literature in the Underachieving English Classroom Alexandria Hamelin April 5, 2008 ECI 637 Instructor: Martha Maurno Old Dominion University

Purpose of the Study: To investigate the impact of high interest literature on student achievement. To answer the question: What happens to underachieving students when we try to educate them with materials that are interesting to them?

Purpose Continued: Conventional attitudes are that high interest novels are not “good literature” Canonical literature, however does not “grab” students’ attention… especially students who don’t enjoy learning to begin with. Teaching methods need to change in order to aid student learning.

Need for Study: Conventional methods of teaching literature skills are leaving poor readers out in the dust. Students need to be engaged in what they are learning. Teachers need to see the value of teaching literature that is not necessarily considered to be “good” literature—there is value in Adolescent Lit!

So, Why High Interest Literature? High interest, or Adolescent Literature, helps students to relate to the books that they are reading. Texts are usually about issues and problems that students go through on a regular basis. Texts are easier for lower level readers to understand and relate to.

“Why?” continued… Texts address the same elements of literature as recognized canonical literature. Texts allow for more creative and stimulating discussion, projects, and work in general. If the students are interested in what they are reading, they are more likely to be involved in what is taking place in the English classroom.

Research Questions: Are there correlations between the usage of high interest novels/literature on student attitude? Is there a correlation between interest in the work and student achievement? Is there a correlation between use of high interest literature and student achievement?

Data Collection: Data will be collected in the form of test scores and answers to a parent survey. This data will be analyzed using the SPSS program. One teacher and a class of approximately 23 students will be involved in the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be used in the study. Tests will determine student achievement and advancement in the subject. Parent survey will determine students’ attitudes toward reading and their perceived success of the study.

Results: Parents perceived that their students had low motivation when it came to reading and other school subjects. Students were not spending time outside of school working on their reading skills and other school work.

Results Continued: Pre-Test Scores showed that students’ reading levels varied between 4th and 7th grade levels. Post-Test Scores showed an improvement in reading level over the course of the year. Curriculum-based assessments that were given over the course of the study showed improvement each time.

Conclusion The use of the high interest literature in the classroom did indeed help improve the students’ test scores and reading levels in the study class. High interest literature has a positive effect on student achievement at the high school level.

Possible Problems As with any study, there needs to be more information collected in order to be sure of the validity. While student achievement rose greatly, we cannot blame it entirely on the use of the literature. Other variables that may have caused an increase in scores would be increased personal student motivation, the impact the teacher had, and a number of other outside influences that the researcher had little to no control over

Possible Changes: If this study were to be continued into the future, there are some possible changes that could be made. There is a need for a control group to compare the study group with, to see the level of increase in achievement. Other types of assessments could also have been implemented to get a wider range of statistical data.

Thanks for all of the help and support while completing this project! The End! Thanks for all of the help and support while completing this project!