How Reading Motivation and Engagement Enable Reading Achievement: Policy Implications

Abstract

Successful reading comprehension demands complex cognitive skills, and, consequently, motivation to make meaning from text. Research on reading motivation and engagement can inform policy aimed at improving reading achievement. Multiple dimensions of reading motivation and engagement—and instructional practices for bolstering each one—draw on interventions for students of diverse language and ethnic backgrounds in elementary and middle grade classrooms. The article concludes with policy recommendations centering on (a) the need for school administrators and teachers to learn principles of reading motivation and engagement and (b) the importance of devoting time to planning, in collaboration with researchers, how to apply these principles with particular students in particular classrooms.