Education Honors Fellow presents research at N.C. Reading Association 

Kristen O’Neill '19 is an Honors Fellow double majoring in special education and elementary education. For the last three years, O'Neill has been investigating the impact of high-interest, low readability reading materials on the motivation and engagement of struggling readers, alongside her mentor Marna Winter, senior lecturer and chair of the Department of Education and Wellness.

Her research titled, "Reading to Succeed: An examination of Interests and Motivations of Struggling Pre-Adolescent Readers," has been presented twice at the North Carolina Reading Association Conference, SURE, and most notably, at the Hawaii International Conference on Education in January.

On April 1, O'Neill shared a bit of her research at the North Carolina Reading Association Conference in Raleigh alongside her mentor. The audience for her presentation titled, "What Do Struggling Readers Really Want to Read?" included third-, fourth- and fifth-grade educators. During her presentation, O'Neill shared her knowledge in how to increase engagement and enjoyment for struggling readers using specific genres to enhance literacy instruction.

O'Neill will present at SURF later this month during Elon's CELEBRATE! Week.