Argues that the tests used to measure reading achievement do not reflect recent advances in the understanding of the reading process, and that effective instruction best can be fostered by resolving the discrepancy between what is known and what is measured. (FL)

To evaluate different strategies for improving students' comprehension skills, particularly their inference ability, 42 fifth grade students identified as good or average readers were placed into one of three groups for an eight-week instructional period. Students in one group, the Content and Structure group, received systematic attention, story…

Through reflections upon the ideas and events that have shaped current views about reading comprehension and its teaching, this paper characterizes patterns of development in three related domains: theory and research about basic processes in reading comprehension, research about reading comprehension instruction, and practices in teaching reading…

Principles that should guide reading comprehension assessment include acknowledging the complexity of reading, focusing on orchestrating rather than isolating skills, regarding reading as a dynamic process, developing techniques that encourage student-teacher interactions, and using a variety of reading comprehension measures. The principles are…

This report discusses how reading instruction should be modified to facilitate the development of comprehension strategies in all children (including those labeled as "at-risk" or "disadvantaged"). Current theoretical views of reading comprehension do not support a discrete skills perspective, but classroom research has…

To investigate the applicability of schema-theoretic notions to young children's comprehension of textually explicit and inferrable information, slightly above-average second grade readers with strong and weak schemata for knowledge about spiders read a passage about spiders and answered wh-questions tapping both explicitly stated information and…

A study was conducted to determine the benefits of an approach to teaching inferential skills that combined an explicit attempt to sensitize children to why and how one should draw inferences to prior knowledge with substantial practice in drawing such inferences during story discussions. Subjects were 20 good and 20 poor fourth grade readers who…

Cognitive research of the 1970s has shown that both content factors (topical world knowledge and knowledge about textual organization) and process factors (attention, encoding, inference, retrieval, and executive monitoring) influence comprehension. Classroom research during the same decade has shown that the greater the proportion of time…

Reading comprehension can be more effectively taught using new instructional frameworks--such as explicit comprehension instruction--rather than the basal reading model. Traditionally, comprehension has been taught through a process of mentioning the skill that students should apply, practicing the skill in workbooks, and assessing student…

The effects of various questioning strategies on reading comprehension were tested. The subjects, 24 second grade students reading at or slightly above their grade level, were divided into three instructional groups. The strategy group focused on integrating textual material with prior knowledge. The question group got a steady diet of inferential…

Draws upon research, theory, and experience to support six changes in the way reading comprehension is taught. (FL)

Extensive research over the past 30 years has established the classroom and home experiences that support independent reading by the end of third grade. This set of eight six-page pamphlets draws on this research in providing teachers with practical suggestions on improving children's reading achievement. It includes practices easily incorporated…

Finds the most effective schools and teachers to be distinguished from moderately and less effective schools by the following: time spent in small-group reading instruction, with much teacher collaboration; coaching children in strategies to figure out unknown words as part of phonics instruction; higher-level comprehension questions; more…

Today, more than ever before, teachers are devoting much of their intellectual and emotional energy to helping students better understand the school texts that they are required to read. This can best be accomplished through six changes in the way reading comprehension is taught: (1) accept an active-constructive model of reading comprehension;…

Effects of reading instruction maximizing students' cognitive engagement on Grade 1 to 5 reading achievement were examined over a school year for students in 9 high-poverty schools. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that several teaching variables explained substantial variation in reading achievement growth. The most consistent finding was that…