Although literacy achievement has improved in Chile, adolescents' underperformance in reading comprehension is still a serious concern. In English, core academic-language skills (CALS) have been found to significantly predict reading comprehension, even controlling for academic vocabulary knowledge. CALS are high-utility language skills that…

Previous research has identified various factors that contribute to readers' comprehension of expository texts, including strategy expertise, language proficiency, prior knowledge, and more recently, readers' beliefs about knowledge. This study addresses the need to understand the relative contributions of these predictors to readers'…

This study addressed the effects of multiyear, response-based, tiered intervention for struggling readers in grades 6-8. A sample of 768 sixth-grade students with reading difficulties was randomized to a response-based, tiered-intervention condition or "business as usual," and initial treatment status was maintained over the three-year…

This study investigated the effects of reading a science text illustrated by either a labeled or unlabeled picture. Both the online process of reading the text and the offline conceptual learning from the text were examined. Eye-tracking methodology was used to trace text and picture processing through indexes of first- and second-pass reading or…

This study investigated multiple models for assessing oral reading fluency, including 1-minute oral reading measures that produce scores reported as words correct per minute (wcpm). We compared a measure of wcpm with measures of the individual and combined indicators of oral reading fluency (rate, accuracy, prosody, and comprehension) to examine…

In this article, the authors use and further elaborate a cultural modeling framework to juxtapose two distinct yet analogous literacy practices: (1) The out-of-school practice of translating and interpreting across languages, or "para-phrasing"; and (2) The cross-disciplinary and school-based practice of paraphrasing or summarizing written texts.…

The present study aims to advance the extant research base by evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of an academic vocabulary program designed for use in mainstream middle school classrooms with high proportions of language minority learners. The quasi-experimental, mixed-methods study was conducted in 21 classes (13 treatment matched to…

Results of three experiments designed to teach sixth grade students to modify difficult formats of math word problems indicated that treatment effects were effective. Large differences in successful problem solution rates were observed in favor of the easier format word problems. (MKM)

Investigated within-sentence contextual constraints in a sentence-completion task completed by 408 students from grade 6. (AA)

Investigates whether readers comprehend a text better when it is displayed conventionally (on printed pages) or computer-mediated (offering the reader access to additional information, or controlling the reader's processing of the text). Comprehension scores were significantly higher for readers of the computer-mediated, computer-assisted texts.…

Finds support for the efficacy of a direct instruction paradigm for teaching children reading comprehension skills. (FL)

Examines how dimensions of reading motivation related to students' reading activity and achievement. Finds that the strength of the relations between reading motivation and reading achievement was greater for girls and for white students. Demonstrates that reading motivation is multidimensional and should be regarded as such in research and in…

Relates research done with three strategies to create "text-based interest" (how interesting a text is) in order to improve children's recall of expository texts used in schools. While some of the strategies increased subjective interest, none significantly improved recall. (SR)

Reveals high awareness of comparison/contrast structure and low awareness of causation structure. Supports the hypothesis that structure-aware students are more likely to use a structural strategy when reading than unaware students. Reveals that sixth graders have some text structure knowledge and may be promising candidates for instruction in how…

Investigates whether the use of the computer to mediate text affects reading comprehension and concludes that computer-mediated text can influence reading comprehension and that comprehension was most consistently increased when manipulations of the text were under computer control. (HOD)