Does

Reading
Count?
 Question
According to the official Reading Counts website:

“Scholastic Reading Counts! is an independent reading program for

Grades K–12 which combines reading practice and software-based
reading assessment . . . PROVEN to develop reading skills . . . and
motivate students to achieve reading success”
(http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/independent_reading/scholast
ic_reading_counts/program_overview.htm)

My science fair project asks: What is the correlation, if any,

between 5th gradersʼ Reading Counts habits during the
school year and their vulnerability to cliché?
 Hypothesis
I think that 5th graders who are more involved
in Reading Counts will be more vulnerable to
cliché than the ones who read both Reading
Counts and non-Reading Counts books during
the school year.
 Materials

❑ “Survey Monkey” online survey

❑ Woodrow Wilson 5th-grade volunteers
 Procedures, Part 1
1. Create online multiple-choice survey, using “Survey Monkey.”
2. Distribute survey link to Woodrow Wilson 5th-graders in Monday folders,
along with parental consent forms and instructions.
3. Make a table showing the Reading Habits Score (RHS), Reading Preference
Score (RPS), and Cliché Vulnerability Score (CVS) for each student who
answered all the questions they were asked.
4. Calculate the average CVS score for students who read only Reading
Counts books during the school year, vs. the average CVS score for students
who read non-Reading Counts books during the school year as well.
5. Compare the two averages to determine the correlation (if any) between
RHS and CVS.
 Procedures, Part 2
Survey Logic & Questions
Everyone had to answer the first two questions, and the last 3 questions.
There was only allowed one response per question. Those who read only
Reading Counts during the school year were redirected by the survey to the
final three questions.

1. What is your gender? (Options: male or female)

2. Do you read books that are not Reading Counts during the school year?
(Options: yes or no)
3. Do you spend more time during the school year reading Reading Counts
books or non-Reading Counts books? (Options: About the same ; Way more
RC than non-RC ; Way more non-RC than RC ; A little bit more RC than
non-RC; A little bit more non-RC than RC; A moderate amount more of RC
than non-RC; or A moderate amount more of non-RC than RC.)
4. Which books do you generally prefer to read? RC or non-RC? (Options: It
depends on the book; RC; or non-RC)
5. Questions 5, 6, and 7 each asked the same question, “So, which poster
below appeals to you more?” with three examples to choose from: a clichéd
motivational poster, a “demotivational” poster criticizing people’s
vulnerability to cliché, and a middle option between the two extremes. The
examples differed in each question.
 Results
1. Only 12 students took my survey: 9 females (75%) and 3 males (25%).
2. In answer to the second question, “Do you read books that are not Reading
Counts during the school year?”, 8 answered yes (66.67%) and 4 answered
no (33.33%).
3. In answer to the third question (which was only asked to those who
answered yes to question #2), 50% answered “Way more RC than non-RC.”
The remaining 50% was equally divided between “About the same” (25%)
and “A little bit more RC than non-RC” (25%).
4. In answer to the fourth question, (which was also asked only to those who
answered yes to question #2), an 87.5% majority (7 people) answered “It
depends on the book.” Only 12.5% (1 person) answered that they preferred
Reading Counts books. 0% (nobody) answered that they preferred non-RC
books.
5. Averages & Correlations on Data
Data 1: Scores
Data 2: Averages
 {=(|/-=Conclusion=-\|)=}
o=}{+0)---------------{[+=(0)=+]}------------------(0+}{=o
My hypothesis was supported. The average CVS for the students
who only read Reading Counts was greater than the average CVS
of fifth grader who read both RC and books that are not RC. The
average cliche vulnerability score for only RC reading students
was 4 CVS while the average for those who read both kinds of
books was 3 CVS. A small difference like this may not matter and
there may be no correlation but a small difference like this is worth
pointing out. Maybe multiple tests like this might fully prove it but I
have all the data that is needed from this experiment. In
conclusion, the amount of RC a student reads makes them more
vulnerable to cliche.
 Possibilities
for Future Study
❑ -summer reading habits?
❑ More participants!