Reversing the Decline: Evidence From a Quasiexperimental Study on How Classroom Practices Support Adolescents' Reading Motivation and Amount

Background Reading for pleasure has been declining worldwide, with significant drops in reading motivation and frequency among adolescents. In Chile, national assessments indicate that students' reading motivation and frequency decrease as they progress through school. This study examines the effects of a school‐based reading intervention aimed at increasing intrinsic reading motivation and reading amount among Chilean eighth‐grade students. Methods A quasiexperimental design was implemented with 574 eighth‐grade students (45% female), aged 13–14 years, from schools with a predominantly medium‐low socioeconomic status. The intervention included three groups: full intervention, books only and control. The full intervention included initial teacher training in motivationally oriented practices: self‐selected independent reading of popular books, peer recommendations and discussions, absence of summative grading for reading activities, teacher‐kept reading records and monthly teacher support meetings. The books‐only condition provided book access without additional motivational components. Intrinsic reading motivation and reading amount were the outcomes. Print exposure, language arts grades and home literacy environment were included as covariates. Results The full intervention produced significant gains in intrinsic reading motivation relative to control; gains in reading amount relative to control were positive but did not reach significance. The books‐only condition did not differ from control on either outcome. The full intervention produced significantly greater gains in reading amount than books only; the difference in motivation between intervention groups was not significant. Conclusions Combining book access with motivationally oriented classroom practices can effectively increase students' intrinsic reading motivation and reading amount. Book access alone was insufficient to produce significant gains, highlighting the importance of comprehensive, motivation‐focused strategies to promote leisure reading among adolescents.