Zakaria

Abstract

 The primary purpose of the research is to determine if weekly in class silent reading periods are a successful tool for improving Advanced Placement Human Geography unit exam scores. The secondary intent of the research is to identify correlations between weekly in class silent reading periods and student motivation with respect to the Advanced Placement Human Geography course. 

Data will be collected from five sections of Advanced Placement Human Geography Courses and, one International Baccalaureate World Geography course. For the purpose of the research weekly in class silent reading periods will consist of a single period per week in which each class will be provided twenty five minutes to silently read from their assigned text. During the reading periods students will be permitted to only read from the assigned chapter of the text book. 

Through the use of weekly in class silent reading the unit exam average increased an average of 2.89 points. When students were identified as either high performing or marginally performing the results became very clear. Those students who were marginally performing on unit exams increased their scores by 7.65 points. Those students who were high performing saw a drop in their scores by 1.89 points.  The initial data suggests that weekly in class silent reading may be a powerful tool for those students who struggle to perform well on tests.  The efficaciousness of weekly reading sessions for high performing students is unclear at the conclusion of the research.