Role of reading engagement in mediating effects of reading comprehension instruction on reading outcomes

The engagement model of reading development suggests that instruction improves students’ reading comprehension to the extent that it increases students’ engagement processes in reading. We compared how Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) (support for cognitive and motivational processes in reading), strategy instruction (support for cognitive strategies in reading), and traditional instruction in fourth-grade classrooms differentially influenced students’ reading comprehension, strategy use, and engagement in reading. Students experiencing CORI were significantly higher than both comparison groups on reading comprehension, reading strategies, and reading engagement. When students’ level of reading engagement was statistically controlled, the differences between the treatment groups were not significant. We infer that the level of students’ reading engagement during classroom work mediated the instructional effects on reading outcomes. C � 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The engagement model of reading comprehension development proposes that engagement in reading is the joint functioning of motivational processes and cognitive strategies during reading comprehension (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000). In this perspective, highly engaged readers are both internally motivated and strategic, and less engaged readers show lower motivation and less use of strategies for comprehending text. Consistent with this perspective, Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris (2004) proposed that engagement is a multidimensional attribute including behavioral engagement (actively performing academic learning tasks), cognitive engagement (using high-level strategies to foster deep learning), and emotional engagement (enjoying academic tasks and expressing enthusiasm about learning). In this investigation, we examined the construct of engaged reading as a mediating variable that may account for the effect of integrated instruction on reading comprehension of elementary school students. Relatively few studies have attempted to increase reading engagement of elementary students experimentally or to examine the role of reading engagement in interventions that increase reading achievement. The few existing experimental studies of this age group have shown that at least four variables influence students’ reading motivation: (a) autonomy support and choice, (b) use of interesting texts in classroom instruction, (c) having conceptual goals for reading instruction, and (d) supporting collaboration in reading. Guthrie and Humenick (2004) conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of these variables on reading motivation, identifying 22 studies that enabled 131 experimental comparisons to be made. Average effect sizes were 0.95 for choice, 0.72 for conceptual goals, 1.15 for providing interesting text, and 0.52 for collaboration. However, these studies were short term (1–6 hours), laboratory based (nonclassroom), with high teacher–pupil ratio (1–5) and limited materials (e.g., three 500-word passages), and thus have limited applicability to typical classroom conditions. Although there have been studies of classroom practices related to engagement, the investigations have been related to achievement generally (Assor, Kaplan, & Roth, 2002; Skinner, Wellborn, & Connell, 1990), mathematics in middle school (Ryan & Patrick, 2001), or to how teacher–student and parent–student relationships relate to young children’s reading achievement (Hughes & Kwok,