A meta-analysis of the relationship between student attitudes towards reading and achievement in reading

A meta-analysis of the relationship between attitudes in reading and achievement in reading was conducted to provide a statistical summary to the observed variability in the magnitude of previously reported effect sizes. A total of 32 studies, with a total sample size of 224,615 were used, and included a total of 118 effect sizes. A multi-level approach was used in meta-analysis to determine if variance in the magnitude of effect sizes could be partitioned to study (level 1) and moderator (level 2) levels by using a mixed model approach. Results from the meta-analysis indicated that the mean strength of the relationship between reading attitudes and achievement is moderate (Zr=.32), while stronger for students in elementary school (Zr=.44) when compared with middle school students (Zr=.24). Findings related to selected moderator variables are discussed, with suggestions for future research.