Student Choice of Text in an Upper Secondary Independent Reading Program: A Quasi-Experimental Study

This study examined the effects of student choice-of-text and reading comprehension outcomes in a 12-week independent reading program in an upper-secondary classroom. Students aged 17–18 years (n = 52) were divided into two groups. One group received an assigned text at an age-appropriate Lexile level and genre; the other group was given free choice of text from an appropriate Lexile level from a classroom library. A pretest-posttest ANCOVA design was used with both groups receiving the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test series before and after the intervention. Both groups achieved modest gains; however, the ANCOVA results revealed no statistically significant difference between the choice-of-text and no-choice-of-text groups (p = 0.262), challenging the reported efficacy of choice-of-text, especially for older students. Recommendations for further research include a call for a readjustment of previously reported effect sizes upon which to build future studies in adolescent literacy.