There is growing interest in disciplinary literacy instruction as a primary means of improving adolescent literacy outcomes. At times, this disciplinary framework has been represented as a replacement for the more broadly known general strategy instruction. However, disciplinary literacy, a potentially powerful idea, cannot replace general…

High school students are challenged to meet higher standards in order to ensure that they are prepared to face the literacy demands of our twenty-first century society (Beaufort, 2009; A. S. Erickson, Kleinhammer-Tramill, & Thurlow, 2007; Vernon, Baytops, McMahon, Padden, & Walther-Thomas, 2003). This study examined both above average high school…

State tests, which assess reading comprehension, ask students to make inferences and connections beyond the text. The problem of practice in which this study is situated is that students are having difficulty making meaningful connections and developing inferences in relation to the material that is read aloud together in class or assigned for…

The purpose of this case study research was to explore the effects of explicit instruction of graphic organizers to support students' understandings of informational text. An additional purpose was to investigate students' perceptions of using graphic organizers as a comprehension strategy. Using case study methodology, this study occurred…

This paper reports findings from a study that assesses metacognitive awareness and reading-strategy use of Chinese senior high school students who are learning English as a foreign language (EFL). A total of 270 students responded to a 28-item survey of reading strategies (SORS). The strategies were classified into 3 categories: global,…

This document presents the proceedings of the 20th Annual Research Forum held June 25, 2015, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 21 action research papers: (1) History Lives! The Use of Simulations in a High School Social Studies Classroom (Lydia Adkins); (2) Using Francophone Music in the High…

This book shows content area teachers in middle and high schools how to boost student achievement by including lessons and strategies which focus on students' reading comprehension without detracting from content area focus. These mini-lessons and strategies are research-based and address the specific literacy challenges of each particular subject…

The relations between word knowledge and reading comprehension for good and poor readers were studied using various formats. Subjects were 50 fifth and sixth graders who read at grade level and 50 tenth graders who read at a sixth-grade level. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

Studies the reading comprehension of high school students who read three expository passages of increasing difficulty. Finds that the two groups use the same type and number of strategies on the easy passage, but as the passage difficulty increased, good comprehenders use more types of strategies and use strategies more often than the poor…

Investigates text cues and comprehension strategies used by competent readers comprehending lengthy written arguments. Finds that both text structure and signaling in introductions and conclusions consistently influenced the 12th-grade advanced placement English students' responses. Notes that these cues helped students recognize the argument…

The author reported results of 2 sequential and interrelated studies that examined the efficacy of combining 2 models of reading strategy instruction -- reciprocal teaching and direct explanation. The studies were implemented in a high school in the Midwest. The literature documents that even mainstream high school students have serious deficits…

This article presents research on the frequency of reading comprehension instruction in secondary content-area classrooms. In 2,400 minutes of direct classroom observation, only 3% of instructional time was allotted to coaching middle and high school readers on the reading comprehension strategies essential to understanding informational text.…

Describes the rationale, advantages, and teaching procedures of the "talk through," a postreading strategy that helps high school and college students go beyond a simple retelling to transform, reorganize, and elaborate information and monitor their own understanding. (SR)

The ability to effectively use reading as a study skill is critical to academic success at the middle- and high-school levels. In an age of high-stakes testing and accountability, content-area specialists, teaching multiple sections of students each day within clearly designated time periods, must focus the majority of their instructional efforts…

Presents findings of a collaborative study that examined a teacher's implementation of portfolio instruction and assessment in a high school French class. Gives perspectives of the teacher and students involved, and discusses implications of these perspectives. (HB)