Instructional quality, reading comprehension, and intrinsic reading motivation in the context of the German initiative “Education through Language and Writing” (BiSS)

Abstract

Reading comprehension is an interdisciplinary key component for academic success and a main goal for elementary school learning. The German state-wide initiative “Education through Language and Writing” (BiSS) focussed on promoting students’ reading comprehension. Intrinsic reading motivation has a high value in itself and it also shows high correlations with reading comprehension. The presented study aims for investigating a) relations between BiSS-participation of schools and the development of instructional quality in a quasi-experimental longitudinal design with N = 1032 fourth-grade students and b) relations between quality of reading instruction and the development of students’ intrinsic reading motivation. Multilevel structural equation models revealed a small positive effect of BiSS-participation on differentiation in reading classes. Furthermore, differentiation, disturbances in the classroom and measures of supportive class climate were predictive for student intrinsic reading motivation on individual level.