The Development and an Acceptability and Feasibility Study of a Program to Support Children’s Reading Motivation and Engagement

Abstract

This article describes the development and an acceptability and feasibility study of a program co-created by researchers, teachers, other professionals, and with children’s input, to increase children’s (aged 8–11) reading motivation and engagement. Following co-creation, teachers from 4 schools in the UK delivered the program for six-weeks, with data from 425 children and seven teachers collected. While teachers’ perspectives of implementation were positive, no statistically significant increases in reading motivation or engagement were found for entire sample of children participating. There was, however, a statistically significant increase for children starting the program with low reading engagement. Through its close connection between research and education communities throughout, this article makes a novel and significant contribution to methodological knowledge and thinking in relation to the development (researcher-teacher-child co-design), delivery (balance between fidelity and flexibility) and evaluation (importance of acceptability/feasibility) of programs designed to improve children’s reading experiences and outcomes.