Reading Attitude and Achievement: Teacher-Pupil Relationships

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Abstract
In literature relating to elementary school reading it is commonly contended that attitudes toward reading influence achievement in reading and that teachers’ attitudes (and achievement) affect pupils’ attitudes and achievement. As yet there is little research support for this contention. In opposition is the view expressed in teacher effectiveness literature that there may be a degree of incompatibility between maximizing in pupils both desired cognitive (or achievement) outcomes and desired affective outcomes (for example, favorable attitudes). The validity of these two positions was assessed by administering reading attitude and achievement tests to 251 final-year student teachers and to the grade 4 through 6 pupils (approximately 900) of 48 of these teachers twice during the following year. One-way analyses of variance were used to investigate teacher-pupil relationships. Findings indicated that high achievement and high attitude in teachers were positively associated with high achievement and high attitudes in pupils; in the pupils of low achievement and low attitude teachers, achievement was low, but attitudes were more favorable than those expressed by the pupils of middle achievement and middle attitude teachers.

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