Abstract of

Struggling Readers
“If They Don't Read Much, How They Ever Gonna Get Good?”

Pat Cunningham

While acknowledging the importance of practice in developing reading competence, the author questions whether incentive programs (such as Accelerated Reader or the Pizza Hut Book It! program) are useful, particularly for struggling readers. She asks, “Do popular incentive programs accomplish their goal—particularly for struggling readers? Do your struggling readers read more and read more willingly because of the incentive programs you have in place?” Her experience makes her believe that the opposite is true, and that such programs are actually “demotivating” most struggling readers.

Abstract from Cunningham, P. (2005, September). “If They Don't Read Much, How They Ever Gonna Get Good?”. The Reading Teacher, 59(1), 88–90. doi: 10.1598/RT.59.1.10