Beyond Gold Stars: Improving the Skills and Engagement of Struggling Readers through Intrinsic Motivation

Abstract

The current pilot study assessed the impact of a motivational intervention on the task-avoidant behaviors, task-engagement behaviors, and skill growth of elementary-age readers attending a remedial summer reading program. We randomly assigned students (ages 7–10) either to an experimental condition (n = 24) that integrated strategies emphasizing autonomy and mastery into 2 specialized reading curricula or to a control condition (n = 23) that coupled the same curricula with material rewards. Analysis of pre- and posttesting revealed that relative to the control group the intervention group made significantly greater gains on measures of high-level reading skills and exhibited significantly more task-engagement behaviors. We discuss implications for future research and education, especially in relation to the relevance of such interventions for preventing stagnation in struggling readers’ skill development.