Making the right connections: Differential effects of reading intervention for subgroups of comprehenders

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of different types of questioning interventions on students' reading comprehension. Fourth-grade students (n = 246) were identified as struggling, average, or good readers and assigned randomly within school to one of three questioning interventions: two inferential conditions (Causal or General) or one literal condition (“Who, What, Where, When” or W-questioning). Teachers delivered the interventions for 20–30 min, 2–4 times per week, for 8–10 weeks. All readers made reliable pre- to posttest comprehension gains as measured by story recall (ps < .001 to .04). Differential effects for intervention were found between two subgroups of struggling comprehenders—elaborators and paraphrasers. Elaborators benefited more than paraphrasers from Causal questioning (d = .86) whereas paraphrasers benefited more than elaborators from General questioning (d = 1.46). These findings suggest that identifying subgroups is important in developing and evaluating the effectiveness of reading comprehension interventions.     

Formative evaluation applied to a learning hierarchy

A formative evaluation method applicable to learning hierarchies is described which simplifies data collection by employing results from a posttest. Relations among pairs of lower and higher elements of a portion of a previously formulated hierarchy for graphic skills in kinematics were tested by means of data obtained from a posttest given to 148 secondary-school students. Results were compared with those previously obtained for the same hierarchy by a rigorous validation method. Correspondence of the two sets of results was high. Examination of test responses for discrepant instances yielded further information of value. Results additionally indicate hierarchical relationships to be the same in retention as they were for learning.     

Coping with separation anxiety

Whether beginning nursery school, kindergarten, or first grade, many children commonly experience fear at being separated from their parents and at being in a new place for the first time for an extended period. For example, Albert lived across the street from the school where he was to attend first grade. Taken by his brothers and sisters to the school on the first day, Albert was left in a room with a teacher and forty-five other children.Betty Lou Land is an Associate Professor of Reading at Winthrop College and Terry Norton is an Instructor of Reading.     

New horizons in philosophy

Good lectures are an important part of the learning process. Lectures could be improved by viewing them as oral communication and by applying sound communication theory to their development.