Role of reading engagement in mediating effects of reading comprehension instruction on reading outcomes

The engagement model of reading development suggests that instruction improves students' reading comprehension to the extent that it increases students' engagement processes in reading. We compared how Concept‐Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) (support for cognitive and motivational processes in reading), strategy instruction (support for cognitive strategies in reading), and traditional instruction in fourth‐grade classrooms differentially influenced students' reading comprehension, strategy use, and engagement in reading. Students experiencing CORI were significantly higher than both comparison groups on reading comprehension, reading strategies, and reading engagement. When students' level of reading engagement was statistically controlled, the differences between the treatment groups were not significant. We infer that the level of students' reading engagement during classroom work mediated the instructional effects on reading outcomes. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Prevention and Remediation of Severe Reading Disabilities: Keeping the End In Mind

This article addresses questions about instruction for children with severe reading disabilities in 2 ways. First, outcomes from 3 recent studies are examined within the context of a hierarchy of instructional goals derived from current theory about the processes involved in acquisition of reading skill. This analysis suggests that we still have much to learn about effective instruction for children with the most severe reading disabilities. The second part of the article reports preliminary results from a 2½-year prevention project in which 138 children received instruction by 3 different methods. The primary instructional contrast involved the intensity and degree of explicitness of instruction in phonological awareness and phonetic decoding strategies for word reading. Results showed a clear advantage in phonetic reading ability for 1 group of children at the end of the second grade. However, this group did not show corresponding advantages in word-reading vocabulary or reading comprehension. The article concludes with a discussion of weaknesses in current research that suggest questions for future intervention studies.     

Reading research for students with LD: a meta-analysis of intervention outcomes

The present article provides a meta-analysis of instructional research with samples of children and adolescents with learning disabilities in the domains of word recognition and reading comprehension. The results of the synthesis showed that a prototypical intervention study has an effect size (ES) of .59 for word recognition and .72 for reading comprehension. Four important findings emerged from the synthesis: (a) Effect sizes for measures of comprehension were higher when studies included derivatives of both cognitive and direct instruction, whereas effect sizes were higher for word recognition when studies included direct instruction; (b) effect sizes related to reading comprehension were more susceptible to methodological variation than studies of word recognition; (c) the magnitude of ES for word recognition studies was significantly related to samples defined by cutoff scores (IQ > 85 and reading < 25th percentile), whereas the magnitude of ES for reading comprehension studies was sensitive to discrepancies between IQ and reading when compared to competing definitional criteria; and (d) instructional components related to word segmentation did not enter significantly into a weighted least square hierarchical regression analysis for predicting ES estimates of word recognition beyond an instructional core model, whereas small-group interactive instruction and strategy cuing contributed significant variance beyond a core model to ES estimates of reading comprehension. Implications related to definition and instructional components that optimize the magnitude of outcomes are discussed.     

Supplemental Reading Instruction for Students at Risk for Reading Disabilities: Improve Reading 30 Minutes at a Time

Supplemental reading instruction provides a way to improve the reading outcomes of students at risk for reading difficulties and to meet the challenges produced by increases in student diversity in today’s classrooms. The research–based intervention described in this article includes intensive, explicit, and systematic reading instruction in five areas: fluency, phonemic awareness, instructional–level reading with an emphasis on comprehension, word analysis, and spelling. This intervention was effective in improving the reading skills of low SES, second–grade English monolingual and English–language learners.     

Effects of Cognitive and Metacognitive Pre‐reading Activities on the Reading Comprehension of ESL Learners

Pre‐reading activities such as title discussion and vocabulary training have been shown to be effective in decreasing oral reading errors and increasing reading rate and comprehension across a range of reading levels. Experiment 1 in this paper examines the effects of these cognitive activities in combination on the reading comprehension of three adult ESL emergent readers. Experiment 2 explores the relative effects of this procedure, and a metacognitive strategy for presenting these pre‐reading techniques, on the comprehension levels of five adult ESL learners. Single subject research designs were employed in both studies. Results of both studies indicate that the cognitive strategy was effective in raising comprehension levels. However, in Experiment 2, the metacognitive instructional strategy, while similarly effective in raising comprehension levels, was also associated with enhanced maintenance in a subsequent non‐treatment phase. Implications of these findings for instructional practice with ELS learners, both proficient and novice first language readers, are considered.     

Motivational and Cognitive Predictors of Text Comprehension and Reading Amount

Motivational variables contribute to reading achievement and text comprehension through several paths. We report the results of 2 studies further examining these relations. Study 1 included 3rd and 5th graders. We measured their motivation and reading amount with questionnaires and their text comprehension with 2 performance tests. Results revealed that reading amount significantly predicted text comprehension on 2 different indicators, even when the contributions of past reading achievement, prior topic knowledge, self-efficacy for reading, and reading motivation were controlled statistically. Study 1 also showed that reading motivation significantly predicted reading amount when past reading achievement, prior topic knowledge, and self-efficacy were controlled. In Study 2, we investigated the same variables among students in Grades 8 and 10 from a nationally representative data set. Similar to Study 1, the results showed that reading amount significantly predicted text comprehension with other variables controlled. Further, motivation predicted reading amount with other variables controlled and directly predicted text comprehension. Findings were interpreted as supporting a process of attunement of motivational and cognitive goals as a function of time.     

Reading comprehension intervention for high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

The prevalence of children with autism spectrum disorders appears to be on the increase and educators are becoming more aware of their educational and social needs. In particular, many students with high-functioning autism have a deficit in reading comprehension. As a consequence, there is now a greater determination by educators to design the most appropriate reading interventions to address their specific learning impairments. This article outlines a balanced instructional framework for reading comprehension intervention that includes a three-levelled structure incorporating language decoding, language comprehension and metacognitive processes. Research suggests that reading comprehension intervention should focus on reading for meaning by incorporating visual and verbal cognitive strategies to enhance the development of local and global inferencing skills. The framework highlights the need to develop language, social and self-regulation abilities in association with dialogic interaction.     

The Role of Gender and Reading Competence in the Development of Motivational Orientations from Kindergarten to Grade 1

This longitudinal study examined gender differences in motivation and the role of reading prerequisites, that is phonemic and comprehension skills, in the formation of motivational tendencies from kindergarten up to grade 1. The longitudinal sample consisted of 157 Finnish-speaking children. Teachers rated children's adaptive goals, (i.e. task orientation and social dependence orientation) at four points of time, kindergarten-spring, preschool-fall, preschool-spring and in the fall of grade 1. Children's phonemic awareness and language comprehension skills were assessed in kindergarten at the initiation of the study (i.e. initial phoneme identification, rhyming, writing of the alphabet, listening and instruction comprehension). Word reading and reading comprehension skills were assessed at the end of grade 1 in the three groups of children at risk for reading failure and in children with high reading prerequisites. The results showed that gender and early phonemic and language comprehension differences were associated with divergent motivational-developmental trajectories. Children with low phonemic or low language comprehension skill showed higher social dependence and lower task orientation over time than children with high initial reading prerequisites. In particular, boys with low reading prerequisites underwent a negative motivational change. The group of children who had poor phonemic and poor language comprehension skills showed most unfavorable development of motivation and reading. Findings concerning motivational trajectories are discussed with regard to the lack of fit between child's competence and curriculum demands.     

Children's Metacognition About Reading: issues in Definition,Measurement, and Instruction

Metacognition has become a popular term in theories of cognitive development and reading. What children know about the goals, tasks, and strategies of reading can influence how well they plan and monitor their own reading. Despite the appeal of metacognition and the emphasis on executive management of reading, there have been relatively few empirical studies that measure or promote children's metacognition about reading. This article briefly reviews some key studies of children's knowledge about reading and identifies some difficulties in defining and measuring metacognition. An Index of Reading Awareness (IRA) is offered as an informal assessment of metacognition derived from both theory and empirical data that can be used to measure children's understanding of reading comprehension processes. Data are presented illustrating that the instrument is sensitive to developmental and instructional differences in children's metacognition about reading. It is argued that the usefulness of the term metacognition depends on the development of both formal and informal tests of children's knowledge about reading and effective instruction that promotes metacognition.     

Reading motivation and reading comprehension growth in the later elementary years

Reading motivation has been viewed as a multifaceted construct with multiple constituents. Our investigation of motivational multiplicity expanded on previous literature by including motivation constructs (interest, perceived control, collaboration, involvement, and efficacy), text genres, specific versus general contexts, and the self-versus other evidence sources about motivation. We expected that this multiplicity would influence the identification of reading comprehension growth predictors. We obtained pre- and post-interview data, teacher ratings, motivation self-reports, and reading comprehension scores. Interviews showed motivation constructs to be semi-independent. Students’ reading motivations for narrative and information texts were not highly associated; and self-reports and other motivation reports were not highly associated, but situated and general reading motivations were correlated. Interview-based coding of motivation predicted reading comprehension growth, but reading comprehension did not predict motivation growth. Situated motivation for information books predicted general motivation growth according to multiple regression analyses. Implications for an engagement model of reading development were discussed.     

Fostering Self‐Regulation of Students with Learning Disabilities: Insights from 30 Years of Reading Comprehension Intervention Research

Thirty years of intervention research on the effects of reading comprehension strategies for students with learning disabilities was reviewed in this quantitative synthesis. Specifically, researchers targeted studies that contained self‐regulated learning components. A systematic search yielded 18 studies from nine research journals that met specified inclusion criteria. Studies were evaluated for methodological quality and to identify types of instructional and self‐regulation components within interventions. Large effect sizes were found immediately after instruction and after a time delay, suggesting that instruction in reading comprehension strategies that contain self‐regulation components may have a long lasting impact on student performance. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

The New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension: Future Directions

Abstract

Research in four areas has the potential to dramatically improve how practitioners address the challenges of integrating digital texts and tasks into their literacy curriculum. Advances in defining and measuring key components of online reading comprehension are rapidly emerging. In addition, instructional models, such as Internet reciprocal teaching (IRT), can lead to the acquisition of online reading comprehension, but teachers need access to sustained professional development that is aligned with their own learning goals.     

Instructional Research in Reading Comprehension: a Preliminary Observation Study of Reading Comprehension Classes Taught by IE Student Teachers

Developments in reading research in the last two decades have led to a fuller understanding of the reading process and enabled researchers and practitioners to address the issue of how to improve the teaching of reading comprehension. This paper reviews some of the studies in general classroom instructional research and reading comprehension instruction. It then reports an observation study of reading comprehension instruction carried out by IE student teachers. The findings of the study are discussed in the light of similar studies reviewed in the earlier section of the paper, and implications for classroom practice and further research are suggested.     

Measuring Reading Comprehension

The five articles in this special issue are a blend of experimental and correlational approaches that exemplify advances in contemporary approaches to assessment of reading comprehension. They illustrate how inferences about reading comprehension are determined in part by the material presented for comprehending and the format that is used for assessing comprehension of the material. In the future, the approaches to measuring reading comprehension in these articles could be further integrated by perspectives that cut across particular approaches to measurement and begin to utilize multimethod modeling of the latent variables that underlie different tests of reading comprehension.     

Some considerations for Advancing the Teaching of Reading Comprehension

In this article we identify a number of issues that need to be addressed if we are to continue to make advances in the teaching of reading comprehension. First, we suggest that it is important to continue the search for a variety of effective instructional approaches for teaching reading comprehension and to learn more about the conditional applicability of the instructional approaches currently in vogue. Second, we argue that it is important to expand our definition of reading comprehension to more fully appreciate the social, political, and educational dimensions of reading comprehension and reading instruction. Finally, we consider some of the impediments hindering the classroom application of comprehension instruction research and we argue that researchers must become more concerned with the pragmatic aspects of how to make a difference to comprehension instruction in the classroom.     

Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Tier 2 Type Reading Interventions in Grades K-3

This meta-analysis extends previous work on extensive Tier 3 type reading interventions (Wanzek and Vaughn School Psychology Review, 36, 541–561, 2007; Wanzek et al. Review of Educational Research, 83, 163–195, 2013) to Tier 2 type interventions by examining a non-overlapping set of studies addressing the effects of less extensive reading interventions for students with or at risk for reading difficulties in Grades K-3. We examined the overall effects of these interventions on students’ foundational skills, language, and comprehension as well as the intervention features that may be associated with improved outcomes. We conducted four meta-analyses on 72 studies to examine effects on (1) standardized foundational skill measures (mean ES?=?0.54), (2) not-standardized foundational skill measures (mean ES?=?0.62), (3) standardized language/comprehension measures (mean ES?=?0.36), and (4) not-standardized language/comprehension measures (mean ES?=?1.02). There were no differences in effects related to intervention type, instructional group size, grade level, intervention implementer, or the number of intervention hours.     

Reading motivation and reading comprehension in Chinese and English among bilingual students

One hundred four Hong Kong Chinese fifth graders completed a questionnaire on eight separate motivational subscales related to reading separately for Chinese as a first language (L1) and English as a foreign language (EFL) in addition to measures of both Chinese and English reading comprehension. Motivations related to self-efficacy, curiosity, involvement, recreation, and social-peer attitudes were significantly higher for L1 as compared to EFL reading. No difference across EFL and L1 was found for the motivational subscales in the areas of school grades, instrumentalism, and social-family attitudes. Furthermore, instrumentalism was particularly strongly correlated with EFL reading comprehension, whereas recreation had the highest association with L1 reading comprehension. The eight subscales collectively explained 16% variance in Chinese and 12% variance in English reading comprehension. Results underscore the importance of different types of motivation for reading comprehension and the different roles each motivational aspect may play in L1 and EFL reading.     

Implementation and effects of explicit reading comprehension instruction in fifth-grade classrooms

In this intervention study, teachers tried to implement four instructional principles derived from the literature on research-based, explicit reading comprehension instruction in their fifth-grade classrooms. The principles focused on relevant background knowledge, reading comprehension strategies, reading-group organization, and reading motivation. Results indicated that during a five-month intervention period, students in the intervention group increased their strategic competence and comprehension performance relative to controls. However, no effect was found on reading motivation. The overall pattern of results is explained in relation to the implementation quality of the four instructional principles, with implementation data indicating that the principles of reading-group organization and reading motivation were particularly difficult for the teachers to translate into classroom practice.     

A Cognitive View of Reading Comprehension: Implications for Reading Difficulties

Our aim in the present paper is to discuss a “cognitive view” of reading comprehension, with particular attention to research findings that have the potential to improve our understanding of difficulties in reading comprehension. We provide an overview of how specific sources of difficulties in inference making, executive functions, and attention allocation influence reading comprehension processes and outcomes and may lead to reading comprehension problems. Finally, we discuss how the consideration of these potential sources of difficulty have practical implications for the design and selection of instructional materials.