Date Approved
8-8-2026
Graduate Degree Type
Project
Degree Name
Education-Literacy Studies: Reading (M.Ed.)
Degree Program
College of Education
First Advisor
Elizabeth Stolle
Second Advisor
Mary Bair
Academic Year
2025/2026
Abstract
State and national assessment data indicate declining reading achievement and decreasing reading engagement among elementary students. At the same time, increasing instructional demands and accountability pressures have reduced opportunities for students to participate in meaningful Independent Reading, despite decades of research demonstrating its value for literacy development. Research consistently suggests that Independent Reading is most effective when students are provided with protected reading time, meaningful choice, access to engaging texts, instructional support, opportunities for discussion, reflection, and authentic literacy experiences.
This master’s project presents a Structured Independent Reading Framework, which is a research-based instructional framework designed for elementary classrooms that translates current literacy research into a practical classroom approach. Guided by Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory and Self-Determination Theory, the framework emphasizes protected Independent Reading time, student choice and access to diverse texts, purposeful teacher-student conferences, student response activities, and content-area literacy through the use of classroom text sets. The project also includes practical resources to support implementation, including a reading interest survey, conferencing tools, student book recommendation forms, volunteer mentor materials, featured author resources, and an implementation guide designed to foster positive reading habits and strengthen classroom communities of readers.
The goal of the Structured Independent Reading Framework is to increase student engagement, motivation, and literacy achievement by creating intentional opportunities for students to read independently while receiving meaningful instructional support. By bridging literacy research with classroom practice, this project provides elementary teachers with a practical, comprehensive approach for developing confident, motivated, and lifelong readers.
ScholarWorks Citation
Bush, Linda K., "A Structured Independent Reading Framework to Promote Reading Engagement and Literacy Achievement in Elementary Classrooms" (2026). Masters Projects. 724.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/gradprojects/724
