A Study of the Accelerated Reader Program on Third Grade Students' Motivation to Read

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program on third grade students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to read compared to third grade students who did not use the Accelerated Reader program. Students filled out a Reading Motivation Survey after participating in a Sustained Silent Reading program in their classroom from September through January. Data were collected from 17 students in the treatment group who used the AR program, and 16 students in the nontreatment comparison group who did not use the AR program. The results indicated that the AR program does not affect students' intrinsic and or extrinsic motivation to read. The students in the non-treatment group who did not use AR, responded to the survey indicating that they were intrinsically and extrinsically more motivated to read than the students in the treatment group who used AR. In addition, the students in the nontreatment group were more motivated to read overall than the students in the treatment group. The Accelerated Reader program is a popular computer program used in many schools today, but the results of this study showed that the program does not solely motivate students to read.