Reading Achievement and Attitude Productivity among 17-Year Olds

To probe the association of reading achievement and attitude with productive factors in learning, the scores of 2,300 17-year-old students from a National Assessment of Educational Progress sample were regressed on 18 indices of seven factors. The achievement correlations with the factors are close to the averages revealed by recent quantitative syntheses of bivariate studies. A considerable amount of the reliable or adjusted variance in achievement, 51%, is accounted for by motivation, frequency of spare time reading, radio listening, socioeconomic status, home environment, the use of English at home, race, and public-school attendance. Enjoyment of reading and self-concept as a reader are similarly accountable, but attitudes about the importance of reading and freedom to read are less predictable.