“I Hate to Read-Or Do I?” Low-Achievers and Their Reading

This study is phase two of the Barnstable Study of a Web-based high school summer reading program that replaced traditional summer reading lists. It focuses on low-achieving students who had a low participation rate in the first two years of the program. The researchers interviewed and surveyed seventy students who formed seven focus groups. This study challenges assumptions about struggling readers. Do struggling readers consider themselves readers outside of school where they have choices that relate to what they like to do? Do they read? What do they read? Do they really hate to read? Gender and grade level emerged as factors in participation rates in the program. Student responses emphasized the importance of relevance of reading materials to their reading preferences. Low achievers had a strong preference for alternative reading materials, which has implications for the way schools structure reading for adolescents who are struggling readers.