1. Multiple Dimensions of Korean Adolescents’ Reading Attitudes and Achievement
Bong Gee Jang, Oakland University
Mike McKenna, University of Virginia
Ji Hoon Ryoo, University of Virginia
Overview
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Method
Results
Discussion

2. Agenda
McKenna, M. C., Conradi, K., Lawrence, C., Jang, B. G., & Meyer, J. P. (2012). Reading attitudes of middle school students: Results of a U.S. survey. Reading Research Quarterly, 47,
Jang, B. G. & McKenna, M. C. (2013, December). Multiple dimensions of Korean adolescents’ reading attitudes and achievement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Literacy Research Association, Dallas, TX.
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3. 34% 66% NAEP 2009 4th Grade Reading Overview Background Method Results
It is that two-thirds of fourth graders do possess the basic skills they need and that many of these children are quite proficient. The question, then, is what causes have led to the problem of the lowest third of our students.
66%
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4. Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
World’s Top Ten
Next Ten
Korea
Finland
Canada
New Zealand
Japan
Australia
Netherlands
Belgium
Norway
Estonia
Switzerland
Poland
Iceland
United States
Sweden
Germany
Ireland
France
Denmark
United Kingdom
Examining the leading PISA countries leads to some interesting conclusions. Most are demographically homogeneous, meaning that they do not have a sizable minority with literacy problems. I would’ve expected the Netherlands, for example, to have performed better, but they now have a sizable minority of Turkish immigrants. Likewise, nearly 1/3 of Norwegian children are Arab immigrants who do not speak Norwegian as their first language. Of course, the United States has an immigration problem of its own as children from Latin America have become far more numerous in American classrooms. This trend has created a difficult issue for teachers as they struggle to meet the challenges presented by such children.
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5. Research Questions
To what extent do the four dimensions of reading attitudes relate to the reading achievement of Korean adolescents?
To what extent do the four subscales of SARA differ based on gender and grade after controlling for engagement and achievement?
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6. Survey Methodology
“The purpose of survey research is to describe specific characteristics of a large group of persons, objects, or institutions” (Jaeger, 1997, p. 449)
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7. Measures – Reading Attitudes
Survey of Adolescent Reading Attitudes (McKenna et al., 2012)
Cronbach’s alpha reliabilities are .91 for the full scale, .85 for the Recreational Print Scale, .78 for the Recreational Digital Scale, .72 for the Academic Digital Scale and .73 for the Academic Print scale.
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8. Measures – Reading Comprehension
Noh Reading Inventory (NRI; Noh, 2011)
The reliability of the inventory is .84 for 7th graders, .84 for 8th graders and .77 for 9th graders (Yoon, 2008).
Levels
Items
Factual Comprehension 9
Inferential Comprehension 13
Critical Comprehension 8
Dr. No from James Bond
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9. Data Collection 579 Korean middle school students(313M & 272F)
Translating Survey of Adolescent Reading Attitude (SARA)
Back-translation (Brislin, 1970), Cognitive interviews, & Focus groups
Revision of the instrument (Pena, 2007)
579 Korean middle school students(313M & 272F)
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10. Analysis Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC)
To examine if there was any teacher cluster effect on the students’ attitudes and comprehension scores
Values between 0.10 and 0.25 are acceptable in Hedges and Hedberg (2007)
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11. Analysis Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM; Asparouhovn & Muthen, 2009)
Recommended when the strict requirement of zero cross-loadings in confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) fails to find a better-fitting model
Evaluation criteria: CFI >.96, RMSEA ≤.06, SRMR ≤.10
root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI), and standardized root mean residual (SRMR)
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12. A Proposed Model

13. Correlations Overview Background Method Results Discussion
The correlation coefficients among the four resulting subscales (see Table 4) produced some interesting findings. The relationship of academic to recreational reading in print environments was comparably high (r = .79).
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14. Correlations Overview Background Method Results Discussion
The high coefficient (r=.73) between Recreational/Print and Recreational/Digital attitudes may suggest that where reading for recreational purposes is concerned, medium makes little difference to Korean middle schoolers.
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15. Correlations
Overview
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16. ANOVAs
The ANOVA results also identified some new findings.

17. ANOVAs
However, for both Academic/Print and Academic/Digital attitudes, there was no gender difference and male students exhibited slightly more positive attitudes toward Academic/Digital than did females.

18. ANOVAs
This finding might suggest that where academic purposes are concerned, gender makes little difference to Korean middle schoolers and may be influenced by the strong achievement-driven characteristic of Korean secondary schools (Yoon, 2009).

19. ANOVAs
In the present study American male students’ attitudes were more positive than those of females may be related to group differences in their use of digital technologies.

20. Base Model Overview Background Method Results Discussion
Jang, B. G., & Kim, J-Y. (2013, April). Comparing structural differences in reading amount, reading attitudes, and reading achievement between U.S. and Korean adolescents: Findings from PISA Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.
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21. Revised Model Overview Background Method Results Discussion
Jang, B. G., & Kim, J-Y. (2013, April). Comparing structural differences in reading amount, reading attitudes, and reading achievement between U.S. and Korean adolescents: Findings from PISA Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.
Overview
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22. Model Comparison Criteria Base Model Revised Model Chi Square 682.260 df
184
167
p-value
<0.000
BIC
RMSEA
0.068
0.052
CFI
0.899
0.947
SRMR
0.069
0.045
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23. Implications
Test-driven school culture in Korea shapes attitudes differently over time.
American culture is moving in this direction (e.g., NAEP, PISA, CCSS).
More extensive technology integration in Korea shapes attitudes differently.
No gender differences in attitudes toward recreational reading in digital settings.
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24. Next Step
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