Language Arts Classroom Practices and Early Adolescents’ Needs: A Comparison of Student and Teacher Perceptions

Early adolescence is a crucial time for investigating academic motivation, specifically motivation to read (Hervey, 2013). Students’ motivation to read tends to decrease as they progress through the middle grades (Kelley & Decker, 2009; Lepper, Corpus, & Iyengar, 2005). As motivation to read is associated with positive reading outcomes such as reading achievement (Guthrie, Klauda, & Ho, 2013; Kelley & Decker, 2009; Mucherah & Yoder, 2008), it is vital to understand possible contextual factors that are associated with and may contribute to this decrease in motivation to read.

When investigating motivation, including motivation to read, motivation should be conceptualized as a multidimensional construct which considers the individual’s purposes for engaging in the activities under investigation (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Motivation for activities that are undertaken because they are enjoyable in and of themselves or because the individual values them is termed “self-determined” motivation, as it is viewed as coming from within the individual instead of being driven by an outside individual or edict (Ryan & Deci, 2009). Self-determined motivation is viewed as optimal for supporting positive outcomes regarding the desired behavior or action (De Naeghel et al., 2012). Previous research indicates a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and reading comprehension, as well as a negative association between extrinsic motivation and the same reading outcome (Wang & Guthrie, 2004). In order to support self-determined motivation to read, students’ needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness must be met within the classroom context (Miller & Faircloth, 2014). Considering that classroom instructional practices are a key component of adolescents’ daily experiences in the classroom, research which investigates the influence of these practices on students’ self-determined motivation to read is needed. In addition, the perceptions of students and teachers regarding the degree to which classroom instructional practices meet students’ needs as well as the influence of classroom instructional practices on students’ self-determined motivation to read must be considered, as the perceptions of these two groups of classroom stakeholders rarely fully converge (Delaney, Pitcher, Gillis, Walker, 2014; Wang & Eccles, 2014).

Classroom instructional practices frequently serve as a core structure within the classroom (Delaney et al., 2014; Grossman & Thompson, 2008). However, the influence of specific classroom instructional practices commonly used in middle grades language arts classrooms (e.g., graphic organizers, teacher-mediated whole class discussion) on early adolescents’ needs and their reading motivation has not been fully explored. In addition, most research has focused exclusively on student perceptions of motivation (e.g., Pečjak & Košir, 2008), with few studies examining teacher perceptions of student motivation (e.g., Taboada, Tonks, Wigfield, & Guthrie, 2009). However, to best understand the complexities of early adolescent motivation in school, it is important to examine student and teacher perceptions in tandem. It is possible students and teachers may perceive classroom practices differently (Delaney et al., 2014; Stroet, Opdenakker, & Minnaert, 2013). Whereas teachers often serve as decision makers in choosing specific classroom instructional practices within the classroom, it is important to study how their perceptions may differ from those of the students they are trying to teach and motivate. Thus, the current study sought to explore relationships between middle grades students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the extent to which language arts classroom practices meet students’ needs and support their intrinsic motivation to read.

Self-Determination Theory. Within self-determination theory, motivation is conceptualized as a continuum from the least self-determined (amotivation) to the most self-determined (intrinsic motivation), with various levels of extrinsic motivation in between (Ryan & Deci, 2009). Extrinsic motivation is divided into four levels, including external and introjected regulation, which are both categorized as controlled types of motivation, and identified and integrated regulation, which are both identified as more autonomous (Ryan & Deci, 2009). The most autonomous level on the continuum is intrinsic motivation, in which actions are engaged in based on an individual’s interest in and enjoyment of the activities themselves (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Students who report higher levels of integrated regulation and intrinsic motivation are more likely to persist when faced with challenging tasks and to have higher academic grades (Guay et al., 2010; Vansteenkiste, Sierens, Soenens, Luyckx, & Lens, 2009).

The degree to which an individual exhibits internalized levels of extrinsic motivation as well as becoming and remaining intrinsically motivated depends on the extent to which the environment fulfills his/her needs (Ryan & Deci, 2009). Basic needs include competence (ability to successfully meet challenges and achieve mastery), autonomy (sense of personal control and ownership), and relatedness (emotionally supportive relationships and a sense of attachment to others; Ryan & Deci, 2009). Research indicates the importance of all three needs within a given context in order to support an individual’s overall psychological well-being and adaptive adjustment (Sheldon & Niemiec, 2006).

Self-determination theory can inform educators’ understanding of adolescent motivation to read and its relationship to literacy practices in the middle school classroom. However, the influence of literacy practices on early adolescents’ motivation to read is understudied, and more empirical research is needed to investigate these and other classroom factors.

This quantitative study was part of a larger project that included the creation and validation of scores on a measure of student and teacher perceptions of the degree to which specific instructional practices in the language arts classroom supported students’ needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness, as well as their intrinsic motivation to read. Student and teacher participants in Grades 6 through 8 were recruited from two schools within a rural school district in the Southeastern United States. Eight teachers and 210 students participated in the study.

Eight middle grades language arts teachers from two schools (six from one school and two from another) and 210 students in these teachers’ classes (187 from one school and 23 from the other) took part in this study. There were no statistically significant differences in the demographics of the student samples from the two schools. All teacher participants identified as white, non-Hispanic, and female, and ranged from having 1 to 15 years of teaching experience. There were two teacher participants from seventh grade and three from both sixth and eighth grade.

Among student participants in this study, 47.6% identified as male, with the remaining 52.4% identifying as female. Just over 52% of participating students were in sixth grade, 17% were in seventh grade, and 30% were in eighth grade. The age range for participating students was 10 to 15 years of age. Most students (70.5%) identified as White/Caucasian, whereas 11.4% identified as Black/African American, and 15.2% identified as of mixed racial background. The remaining students identified as Asian/Pacific Islander (2.4%) and Native American (.5%). Twenty-six percent of the students in the sample identified as Hispanic.

Survey Administration. All measures were administered during school hours on the school campus during the spring semester of 2016. Survey packets were distributed in pocket folders participants could utilize to protect the privacy of their responses.

Teacher Survey. Teachers completed a survey packet after a meeting held for participating teachers at each school. At School A, each teacher completed the surveys during the first class period during which students completed surveys. The researcher-created survey and demographic questionnaire took approximately 20 minutes to complete. Due to scheduling conflicts, teachers at School B were given directions for completing the measures, a short question and answer session was held, and teachers completed the measures on their own. The completed surveys were given to the principal investigator by each participating teacher, one via e-mail attachment and the other personally on the day of data collection for that teacher’s participating students.

Student Survey. Students completed a survey packet during their language arts class period. A trained researcher conducted survey administration. At School A, participating students completed the survey in one of two language arts classrooms while nonparticipating students were provided with an enrichment lesson in the other language arts classroom. At School B, because only one teacher for each grade level (sixth and eighth) was participating in the study, participating students reported to a separate room with the PI during their language arts period to complete the measure while nonparticipating students remained in their regular language arts classroom with the language arts teacher for an enrichment lesson. A survey protocol developed after cognitive interviews with middle grades students was utilized to ensure consistency of directions given and student understanding survey items and response processes. Survey administration took approximately 25 minutes.

Student participants completed a demographic form (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, age, and grade level) and a researcher-created survey (Language Arts Reading Practices Survey; LARPS, Pennington, 2017). The survey utilized a 6-point scale (1 = not at all; 5 = very much; 6 = I don’t know) and included 12 items each on five subscales (frequency of use, competence, autonomy, relatedness, intrinsic motivation) for a total of 60 items to indicate to what degree students perceive specific practices within their language arts classroom as meeting their needs and supporting their intrinsic motivation to read. (See Table 1 for list of instructional practices included.) For each practice, students indicated whether/how often the practice was utilized by their language arts teacher as well as the degree to which that practice made them feel they can be successful readers (competence), allowed them options for sharing their reading (autonomy), and gave them a sense of feeling connected and valued by other members of the classroom community (relatedness). In addition, students indicated the degree to which each practice supported their intrinsic motivation to read. For purposes of data analysis, I don’t know responses were coded as missing data.

Teacher participants completed a teacher form of the survey. The purpose of this researcher-created measure was to assess middle grades teachers’ perception of the influence of comprehension-focused classroom instructional practices on their students’ competence, autonomy, relatedness, and intrinsic motivation to read. The survey utilized a 6-point scale (1 = not at all; 5 = very much; 6 = I don’t know) and, like the student measure, included 12 items each on five subscales (frequency of use, competence, autonomy, relatedness, intrinsic motivation) for a total of 60 items. The teacher survey included the same classroom instructional practices used in the student survey in order to allow for analysis of relationships between student and teacher perceptions regarding the influence of specific classroom instructional practices on adolescents’ needs and intrinsic motivation to read. For purposes of data analysis, I don’t know responses were coded as missing data.

All normality assumptions were checked before running additional analyses of the data, and all data were found to meet normality assumptions. In addition, score on both forms of the survey had good reliability for all sub-scales (frequency, three needs and intrinsic motivation). The Cronbach alpha for scores on the subscales of the student survey ranged from .923 (autonomy) to .955 (intrinsic motivation), indicating strong internal consistency of the data. Cronbach’s alpha for scores on the teacher version of the measure ranged from acceptable (.714; intrinsic motivation) to good (.920; competence).

Associations Between Student and Teacher Perceptions. Correlations between student and teacher responses to items on each subscale of the survey were calculated to determine the level of association between the perceptions of these two groups. Data indicated few statistically significant associations among teacher and student perceptions of the frequency of use and the degree to which the classroom instructional practices meet students’ needs and support their self-determined motivation to read. There were statistically significant positive associations between teacher and student perceptions of the frequency with which classroom instructional practices are utilized for two items, collaborative discussion (0.769, p <. 05) and partner/small group work (0.734, p <. 05; see Table 2). This is similar to the pattern seen in previous research, in which students’ and teachers’ rankings of activities by frequency differed for 12 of 13 instructional practices (Hawkey, 2006). In addition, there was a statistically significant negative relationship between student and teacher perceptions of the frequency with which note-taking is utilized (–0.38; p < .05). These results, as well as additional results for all subscales of the survey, followed the pattern seen in previous research of alignment between student and teacher perceptions (Delaney et al., 2014; Stroet et al., 2013) that found lack of agreement in the perceptions of the two groups regarding students’ motivation to read.

Items on the competence subscale of the LARPS indicated no statistical significant associations between teacher and student perceptions (Table 3).

For the autonomy subscale of the survey, there was a statistically significant correlation between teacher and student perceptions of the degree to which creative writing response is perceived to influence students’ need for autonomy (0.72, p < .05; see Table 4). Thus, as student perceptions of the degree to which creative writing supported their need for autonomy increased, teacher perceptions of this instructional practice as supportive of students’ autonomy also increased. However, no such associations were evident for any additional classroom instructional practices. The minimal associations between teacher and student perceptions regarding the degree to which classroom instructional practices supported students’ need for autonomy may also be reflective of trends seen in previous research indicating student perceptions of a decrease in teacher autonomy support during the middle grades Gillet, Vallerand, & Lafreniere, 2012; Katz, Kaplan, & Gueta, 2010).

A similar pattern to that evident on the competence subscale was evident on both the relatedness and intrinsic motivation subscales of the surveys. There were no statistically significant associations between teacher and student perceptions of the degree to which classroom instructional practices supported students’ need for relatedness (see Table 5) or their intrinsic motivation to read (see Table 6). As seen on the competence and autonomy sub-scales of the surveys, these results indicate a lack of agreement between student and teacher perceptions of the degree to which instructional practices support students’ relatedness in the language arts classroom. Thus, as seen in previous research (Delaney et al., 2014; Stroet, 2013), there was a lack of agreement between student and teacher perceptions of the degree to which classroom instructional practices in language arts meet students’ needs and support their intrinsic motivation to read.

As hypothesized based on previous research (Delaney et al., 2014; Stroet et al., 2013), teacher and student perceptions of classroom instructional practices did not fully converge. There were two associations among student and teacher perceptions of the frequency with which practices were utilized within the classroom. Student and teacher responses for these items, collaborative discussion and small group work, were positively associated, .769 and .734, respectively. Thus, student and teacher perceptions appear to be similar in regard to these classroom instructional practices. This implies that the two groups share an understanding of how these practices are defined and how often they are utilized within the language arts classroom. All remaining items (open-ended textbook questions, open-ended questions asked by the teacher, multiple choice questions, whole-class discussion, graphic organizers, taking notes, student-generated questions, teacher think-aloud, creative writing response to text, and essay response to text) yielded no associations between teacher and student reports of the frequency with which they were utilized. This lack of association could be due to additional variables not included in the current investigation, including student (e.g., demographics, reading self-efficacy, and reading achievement) and teacher (e.g., level of education, years of teaching experience) variables, which may moderate such associations. In addition to consideration of such variables, additional research that includes classroom observations could provide triangulation of data regarding the frequency with which instructional practices are utilized, therefore helping to identify possible causes of the varying levels of association between student and teacher perceptions.

As suggested by the small number of statistically significant associations between student and teacher responses regarding the frequency of the included classroom instructional practices, no specific classroom instructional practices yielded statistically significant associations among student and teacher responses across all subscales of the surveys (frequency, competence, autonomy, relatedness, and intrinsic motivation). Indeed, only one instructional practice, creative writing response to text, yielded a statistically significant association between student and teacher perceptions on a single needs subscale (autonomy) of the surveys.

Despite the cross-sectional nature of this study, by assessing both student and teacher perceptions these results add to the general understanding of how different stakeholder groups within the language arts classroom view specific classroom instructional practices as supporting students’ needs and motivation. This may be of special importance for students traditionally considered at risk. As student perceptions likely reflect differences in student characteristics outside the control of the teacher and school, the use of student perceptions or teacher reports as the sole measure of classroom climate may provide an incomplete picture (Wang & Eccles, 2014). Considering the perceptions of both students and teachers of instructional practices is critical, as the perceptions of these two groups rarely fully converge (Delaney et al., 2014; Wang & Eccles, 2014), and these differing perceptions may result in teachers providing inadequate support for students’ needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness in the classroom. The use of a measure with parallel student and teacher forms, such as the survey utilized in the current study, can guide future research examining the perceptions of these two groups, allowing for a better understanding of why the perceptions of these two groups fail to converge and how this lack of convergence influences the degree to which students’ needs are supported in the classroom.

Despite several theoretical and practical contributions and strengths of the current study, there are limitations that must be considered. The use of self-reported student and teacher data was necessary for measuring their perceptions of instructional practices within the language arts classroom. However, there are limitations in using self-reported data. First, participant responses may be influenced by social desirability (Traugott, 2004). For example, research has indicated that adolescents are influenced by their friends’ attitudes toward reading (Merga, 2014), and this influence may cause participants to respond to measures regarding reading in a manner which reflects the attitude of their friends more than their own views. To minimize social desirability, confidentiality of responses was emphasized prior to and throughout survey administration. Further, student surveys were distributed in folders that could be utilized to create a private workspace to increase confidentiality of responses. A second limitation of self-report measures is the issue of item interpretation, in which participants may not understand abstract vocabulary within the measure (Fulmer & Fritjers, 2009). To minimize this concern, expert panel review by middle grades language arts teachers and cognitive interviews with middle grades students were utilized to identify possible points of confusion within the survey. In addition, all constructs were rated using a single item. Utilization of multiple items for each need would strengthen the reliability of results regarding perceptions of the influence of instructional strategies on these needs and intrinsic motivation. Future research that utilizes multiple data sources, such as participant interviews and classroom observations, may allow for triangulation of data and reduce the limitations of utilizing self-reports.

The use of a convenience sample of teachers and their students is another limitation. Additional contextual factors, such as each school’s level of emphasis on literacy and school grade were not taken into consideration when selecting participating schools for this study. One of the schools in this study (School A) earned a B grade for the 2014–2015 academic year from the Florida Department of Education, an increase from the C grade held by this school for the two previous years. School B, on the other hand, has earned a C grade for the both the 2014–2015 and the 2013–2014 academic years, down from a B in 2012–2013. Schoolwide cultural factors, such as the emphasis placed on reading and literacy as valued activities, may influence the motivations and attitudes of students and teachers and, thus, should be considered in future research.

Due to the small convenience sample utilized in this study, there may be additional concerns related to population validity. Characteristics of study participants in this rural setting may limit the populations to which study results can be generalized. Larger, more representative samples might also increase the likelihood of finding statistically significant correlations. In the present study, some correlations between student and teacher responses were of noteworthy size but not statistically significant. Larger samples would yield more statistically significant results.