Investigation of secondary school students' critical reading self-efficacy

This study was conducted to determine the critical reading self-efficacy levels of middle school students attending a public school in the city center of Elazığ. Structured within the framework of the screening model of the quantitative research method, the study applied the "Critical Reading Self-Efficacy Scale" developed by Çelikkanat and Kurnaz (2022) along with a "Personal Information Form." Data on the students' grade level, parental education status, gender, the number of monthly book reads, and their Turkish course academic achievement averages were collected using the Personal Information Form, and these variables were evaluated together with their critical reading self-efficacy levels. A normality test was first conducted on the data using SPSS software. Based on the test results, the data were analyzed using independent samples t-test, ANOVA test, and LSD tests. The research findings indicate that middle school students generally have a high level of critical reading self-efficacy. The critical reading self-efficacy levels of fifth-grade students were found to be higher compared to other grades, and female students' perceptions on this subject were significantly higher than male students. Students whose parents had a high school education level or higher, who read a large number of books regularly, and who achieved higher academic success in Turkish language classes were found to have higher levels of critical reading self-efficacy. Based on the findings, it can be argued that students' critical reading self-efficacy levels vary depending on various individual and environmental variables, and this is an important determinant in the development of critical reading skills.