Working Paper Series Working Paper Series Working Paper Series Working Paper Series Academic Success and Struggle: A Study of Motivation and Literacy in a Sample of Low-Income 7th Graders Working Paper Series The Wellesley Centers for Women Ordering Infor

Abstract

The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) conducts scholarly research and develops sound training and evaluation programs that place women's experiences at the center of its work. WCW focuses on three major areas: The status of women and girls and the advancement of their human rights both in the United States and around the globe; The education, care, and development of children and youth; and The emotional well-being of families and individuals. Issues of diversity and equity are central across all the work as are the experiences and perspectives of women from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Since 1974, WCW has influenced public policy and programs by ensuring that its work reaches policy makers, practitioners, educators, and other agents of change. The Wellesley Centers for Women is the single organization formed in 1995 by combining the Center for Research on Women (founded 1974) and the Stone Center for Developmental Studies (founded 1981) at Wellesley College. For more information, please visit: www.wcwonline.org. Ordering Information Working Papers and other publications of the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) are available for purchase through the WCW Publications Office. For a complete list of current publications, visit our online catalog at: www.wcwonline.org/publications. In their review of the research on reading motivation, Guthrie and Knowles (2001) describe the tendency for researchers to view motivation as a goal-driven process in which the reader is either intrinsically or extrinsically motivated to read. Readers may seek to read because it is an end in itself, in the enjoyment it provides (Deci, 1992), or because it is a means to an end, such as grades, or rewards Intrinsic motivation has the potential to positively reinforce learning goals, in that the enjoyment and challenge of reading leads to mastery, which is an incentive to continue and expand reading practices. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation may lead to a reliance and undue focus on the reward at the expense of mastery Academic Success and Struggle Wellesley Centers for Women 4 strategies to understand text, tend to have better comprehension and achievement outcomes Much of the research on reading has not found significant gender differences for young readers (Snow, Barnes, & Griffin, 1998) and the same is true in our early findings from the Home-School Study. However, the literature does suggest gender differences with respect to special education identification, retention, and dropping out, with more boys being identified than girls (U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics, 2000Statistics, , 2001. We found similar trends in the Home-School Study sample, as well as indications that girls' reading motivation tended to be intrinsic, while boys described being motivated for extrinsic reasons (Porche, Ross, & Snow, in press). Thus, we were particularly interested in examining gender differences related to motivation and achievement as students move through middle school. We hypothesize that cognitive ability, performance, engagement in school, academic self-esteem, and socio-economic status all contribute to achievement. Secondly, although there is little evidence of gender differences in the literature on early reading and language skills, we hypothesize that a difference does exist because boys and girls are socialized in and motivated towards language activities in different ways, such that girls are expected to do better in language arts and boys are expected to excel in math and science. Method Sample. This paper examines literacy motivation and success for a sample of racially and ethnically diverse low-income students (n=54) who have participated in a longitudinal study of literacy and language development since they were in preschool. To be included in the study, the families of these students had to qualify for Head Start services. Two-thirds of the children identified as White Teacher-Child Rating Scale (Hightower et al., 1986); T-CRS). English teachers completed the Teacher-Child Rating Scale (T-CRS) which was comprised of a series of questions about the student's learning habits (motivation to achieve, work habits and level of concentration, and ability to follow directions). Motivational Measures: Self-Perception Profile for Children Results Descriptive results. We investigate the relationship between motivation and language and literacy outcomes by first describing the range of motivation, reading, and demographic measures for this sample of students Clusters are ranked highest to lowest by the combination of reading achievement as measured by comprehension outcomes, and by ability, as measured by report card grades. Cluster Analysis. We used cluster analysis to discern groupings of students by the constellation of variables described above. This method allows us to distinguish among profiles of success or risk of failure in reading achievement and is used to distinguish groups of respondents rather than groups of variables. Each student had membership in one and only one profile type. The seven measurements used in the cluster analysis included reading comprehension ability (CAT), reported English grades, teacher ratings of student performance (T-CRS), scholastic competence (Harter), engagement (RAPS), future aspirations for higher education, and SES (represented by maternal education). This Academic Success and Struggle Wellesley Centers for Women 8 Although there were no significant differences among the clusters on measures of engagement, reported grades, future aspirations, and SES (ANOVAS were performed to test differences by cluster for each variable), we did find some significant differences in the areas of reading comprehension, teacher ratings, and selfperception of scholastic competence between the highest and lowest scoring clusters of students. We retained all seven of these measures in our cluster analysis for two reasons: 1) we felt that each variable does make a substantive difference, even if not apparent in a small sample, and 2) differences between groups on the constructs represented by these variables would be clearer in our qualitative analysis. Consider Clusters 1 and 2, representing students with high levels of reading comprehension and high reported grades. On average, students in Cluster 2 had the second highest score for reading comprehension, had the highest teacher ratings on performance and work habits, got the best grades, yet were the second highest in scholastic competence. In contrast, students in Cluster 1 scored highest in reading ability and highest in scholastic competence, on average, but had lower grades and lower teacher ratings. These very bright students, as reflected in standardized tests, were not performing to their potential and were viewed as average students by their teachers. While all students in Cluster 2 aspired to go to college, as a group, students in Cluster 1 were not as definite in their plans. This provides evidence that ability by itself is a necessary but not sufficient component of achievement. Cluster 5 represents students with low reading comprehension and poor grades. On average, these students have low opinions of themselves in the academic domain, and in fact scored the lowest on each of the seven measures. Many of these students were receiving support services at school (e.g., special education placement, Chapter I, counseling) and several reported a history of developmental delays due to premature birth or mother's substance abuse when pregnant. This cluster of students are at the highest risk of academic failure, and by 7th grade six had been retained one or more times. Overall, students in Clusters 3 and 4 appear to be average or slightly above average in reading comprehension and grades compared to other students in the sample. Compared to Cluster 3, Cluster 4 students have lower comprehension ability, on average, yet are doing slightly better in their grades and received more positive ratings by their teachers. The Cluster 4 students appear to be putting out more effort in school, for their ability level, compared to Cluster 3, where students appear to be working below their abilities. Writing Task: Quantitative Analysis We first reviewed students' writing task samples using typical language skill assessments, before moving on to a more psychological analysis of students' narratives. Scores on the writing ability measures -Form, Content, and Total Score -were for the most part normally distributed across the sample with a slight skew towards the higher end Thematic analysis. Essays were content-coded for theme in the following areas: types of jobs specified, references to college, references to where they would be living, and references to romantic relationships and/or children. Within these descriptions we differentiated between fantasy-based narratives and more realistic narratives. For these thematic groups we examined gender differences present in the students' essays. Thematic analysis of the writing samples offers insight into the importance these adolescents place on different aspects of their future, such as gaining employment, continuing their education, and engaging in meaningful romantic relationships, as well as the degree to which they (and their parents) have begun to plan for their future. By content coding the writing samples Writing Task Qualitative Analysis While we did not find motivation to be a significant differentiator of groups in our cluster analysis, we nevertheless believe that motivation, as measured by student engagement, is in fact a critical component of literacy success. To explore this further, we examined evidence of motivation within the students' writing samples and interview narratives, using both a thematic and interpretive analysis. These qualitative analyses provided some clues to differences between clusters that were not captured in our standardized measures of motivation and writing