Recent studies have found correlations between sentence-level tests and reading comprehension. However, the task demands of sentence-level tests are not well understood. The present study investigated syntactic knowledge as a construct by examining the convergent and discriminant validity of two sentence-level tasks, sentence comprehension and…

We examined the extent to which self-efficacy and growth mindsets predict reading comprehension growth in sixth grade and the moderating role of initial word reading. Students (N = 303) reported on their self-efficacy as well as domain-general and reading-specific mindsets at the beginning of sixth grade. They completed brief bi-monthly reading…

There has been a significant volume of research studying the effect of individuals' motivation on reading comprehension. The findings of previous research have demonstrated both the direct contribution of motivation to comprehension and its indirect influence through mediating effects of reading amount and strategy use. The effect of the linkage…

This study investigated special educational needs (SEN) teachers' (n = 29) assessment practices and the accuracy of their ratings of the students' (M age = 12.75 years, n = 55) skill levels in reading fluency and reading comprehension. Teachers rated their sixth grade students' fluency and comprehension on a three-point scale, and the students…

Moving instruction into the twenty-first-century is vital as educational systems across the United States are attempting to meet students' increasingly diverse needs. National, state, and district-level data have showcased that many students are not meeting grade-level expectations. Acknowledging the variance in student performance levels, schools…

This dissertation study investigated the comparability of reading comprehension of narrative and persuasive text by applying a convergent parallel mixed method design. Participants were middle school students (Grades 6 - 8, N=6). The purpose of the study was to address a gap in reading comprehension research about how students comprehend narrative…

Many studies in the literature have addressed reading comprehension, the ultimate goal of the reading process, due to its complex nature. These studies have focused on various areas, such as the nature of reading comprehension, how it occurs, the factors that affect the process of comprehension, reading comprehension impediments, and how to…

Background: Previous studies have shown that undergraduates improve their answering and monitoring accuracy when they exclusively practice and expect inferential questions after reading. This study examined whether children with poor comprehension, who struggle particularly with inferential questions, would benefit from similar practice with and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate if a group of sixth-grade low achievement language minority (LM) students' reading skills could be improved by an intervention designed to train reading fluency, a critical component of reading development, defined as integrating speed and accuracy (reading rate) as well as prosody. The study included…

National and International standardized assessments have shown sharp differences between native and foreign students' performance in both text comprehension and mathematics. Based on the data gathered yearly by the INVALSI (Italian National Institute for the Evaluation of Educational Systems) at the national level, we performed a two-step…

This study examined the effectiveness of a Derived Relational Responding (DRR) program in improving reading comprehension accuracy among upper elementary students without intellectual or developmental disabilities who struggle to meet grade-level reading standards. Addressing a gap in current interventions, the study investigated whether DRR,…

The current study examines a multidimensional set of outcome variables to understand whether different pre-reading scaffolds influence students' text comprehension, diagram analysis, text integration, and interest; and investigates these constructs cross-sectionally to identify any progression as students move across grades. One-hundred fifty-six…

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to assess the overall effects of automaticity training of fundamental literacy component skills (i.e., letter names/sounds, individual words) on reading fluency and comprehension. Another purpose was to assess if the effects of automaticity training varied for reading fluency and comprehension. We identified…

The Hybrid Text Comprehension cloze (HyTeC-cloze) (Kleijn et al. Lang Test 36:553--572, 2019) is a procedure developed for the Dutch language that has been proved to be a valid and reliable measure of text comprehension beyond the sentence level. Given its advantages, including its relatively rapid construction and scoring and performance compared…

This quantitative, causal-comparative research study investigated whether school configuration has an impact on the reading performance of sixth-grade students by comparing the End-of-Grade (EOG) reading assessment Grade Level Proficiency (GLP) scores of sixth-grade students in K-8 configured schools to sixth-grade students enrolled in 6-8 grade…