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Implementation quality of principles of reciprocal teaching in whole-classroom settings: a two-year study with low-achieving adolescents
Abstract
Low-achieving adolescents are known to have difficulties with reading comprehension. This article discusses whether principles of reciprocal teaching can improve low-achieving adolescents' reading comprehension in whole-classroom settings and to what extent treatment effects are dependent on implementation quality. Over the course of two years, experimental teachers (n = 10) were given training and coaching aimed at using principles of reciprocal teaching, while control teachers (n = 10) used their regular teaching method. Observations of teacher implementation were focused on instruction of reading strategies, modeling, and support of group work, and were performed in both experimental and control classes, comprising a total of 238 students (grade 7). The study shows that overall, there is no effect of the treatment on adolescent low-achievers' reading comprehension. Interestingly however, the principle of modeling positively moderated the effect of reciprocal teaching In addition, results suggest that the quality of implementation of reciprocal teaching in whole-classroom settings should receive more attention.
... Since the 1980's, reading programs have focused on teaching reading strategies in order to foster reading comprehension (Pressley & Afflerbach, 1995;Raphael et al., 2009). However, results of research in teaching reading strategies to adolescents with low academic achievement are mixed (Edmonds et al., 2009;Fogarty et al., 2014;Okkinga et al., 2021;Simmons et al., 2014;Vaughn, 2013). A possible explanation for the different results is that these studies do not take individual differences in students' skills into account. ...
... Many studies have demonstrated positive effects of this approach (Kelly, Moore, & Tuck, 2011;Palincsar & Brown 1984;Rosenshine & Meister, 1994;Spörer et al., 2009;Webb et al., 2019). However, there are also indications that the approach of teaching reading strategies based on reciprocal teaching is not always successful in improving adolescents' reading comprehension (Edmonds et al., 2009;Fogarty et al., 2014;Muijselaar et al., 2018;Okkinga et al., 2021;Simmons et al., 2014;Vaughn, 2013). An important factor that might explain these mixed results is the role of vocabulary knowledge in reading comprehension and strategy use. ...
... In the present study, reciprocal teaching was used in a two-year intervention to improve reading comprehension of adolescents with low academic achievement, defined as students placed in the two lowest tracks of the Dutch secondary education system on the basis of a general academic attainment test (see Sample). Previously, we found small effects of implementation quality of the intervention on students' growth in reading comprehension between students in the experimental and control condition, but no overall main effect (Okkinga et al., 2018(Okkinga et al., , 2021. It is possible that students' vocabulary knowledge moderated the effect of the intervention. ...
Prior studies suggest that teaching reading strategies promotes reading comprehension in adolescents who have difficulties with reading comprehension, yet the results of those studies are mixed. Individual differences in students’ vocabulary knowledge may explain these mixed results. This article examines to what extent vocabulary knowledge influences the effect of a two-year intervention program focused on teaching reading strategies to adolescents with low academic achievement in the Netherlands. We hypothesized that students (N = 310) with different levels of vocabulary knowledge would respond differently to the treatment, given that vocabulary knowledge is an important factor in reading comprehension. Results showed that vocabulary knowledge moderated the effect of the treatment, suggesting that low vocabulary knowledge negatively affected the impact of an intervention focused on reading strategies. Vocabulary knowledge, thus, emerges as a prerequisite for the successful leveraging of a reading strategy intervention. Students with low vocabulary knowledge may experience cognitive overload when attempting to apply newly learned reading strategies while simultaneously trying to find out the meaning of multiple unfamiliar words needed for successful application of reading strategies.
... For example, while one task may require a student to retrieve details from a text, another might require a student to integrate information from different parts of the text. Students are taught diverse reading strategies for coping with these different tasks (Okkinga et al., 2021). However, even when students have knowledge about these reading strategies, they might still have difficulty selecting and applying appropriate strategies when encountering different tasks. ...
... However, even when students have knowledge about these reading strategies, they might still have difficulty selecting and applying appropriate strategies when encountering different tasks. This appears to be particularly true for students with less advanced reading skills, who are concentrated in prevocational education in the Netherlands (De Milliano et al., 2016;Okkinga et al., 2021;Salmerón et al., 2016). Therefore, this study aims to investigate how these students can be provided with support in learning how to select and apply appropriate reading strategies when confronted with different tasks. ...
... Particularly this latter type of interaction fosters meaningful SSRL and potentially translates into improved individual regulation of TOR (Molenaar et al., 2014). However, previous research indicates when pre-vocational secondary education students collaborate, they generally engage in no or low metacognition regulation of TOR (Okkinga et al., 2021). These students need guidance while collaborating, this study uses a script to support students in discussing task and text characteristics, and to connect these characteristics with reading strategies. ...
This study examined how to improve students’ regulation of task-oriented reading (TOR). TOR encompasses reading and information processing needed to perform a specific task. Previous studies suggest students can benefit from a collaboration script to enhance socially shared regulation of TOR. The collaboration script elicits discussions about task perception, strategy selection, and strategy reflection. This study aimed to examine the depth and socially sharedness of metacognitive regulation when working with a collaboration script among 44 prevocational secondary school students working in groups of four. In addition, we examined the consequent improvement of individual task representation, strategy selection, and strategy reflection after working with the script. The analysis of group discussions indicated that the collaboration script facilitated mainly low-level metacognitive regulation of TOR. However, after working with the script, students did improve their ability to determine a correct representation of a high-level task and to reflect on the most appropriate reading strategy for these tasks. Hence, we concluded that the ‘Y-read?’ collaboration script did elicit shared regulation during TOR.
... Implementing theoretically and empirically-based reading interventions into authentic classroom settings should positively impact students' reading. Yet, multiple studies sort nonsignificant effects of promising reading interventions on students' reading comprehension scores Mckeown & Beck, 2009;Muijselaar et al., 2018;Okkinga et al., 2021;Vaughn, Roberts, et al., 2013). This might partially be explained by the fidelity of teachers' implementation . ...
... Especially for reading comprehension interventions, which are generally multicomponent interventions , teachers seem to struggle with high fidelity of implementation . Implementing reading interventions in authentic classroom settings might be obfuscated by various factors relating to classroom management (e.g., oppositional student behavior) ; low levels of student motivation and engagement ; challenges in deciding how much explicit instruction to offer , monitoring student learning , or teaching a highly diverse student population ; and the complex nature of teaching reading strategies and guiding group discussions Okkinga et al., 2021;. Taking into account the challenges related to implementing educational interventions in authentic classroom settings, studying the fidelity of teachers' implementation appears to be of vital importance. ...
... Multiple previous studies into classroom-wide implementation of promising reading interventions reported non-significant improvements in students' reading outcomes, especially among secondary school students (e.g., Okkinga et al., 2021). To explain these findings, considering teachers' FOI seems fruitful . ...
... In related research, Okkinga et al., (2021) introduced three steps of reciprocal teaching: i) Teaching comprehension-boosting reading techniques to students such as question formulation, prediction, summarization and clarification; ii) Showcasing mastery by providing guidance and modelling, while progressively withdrawing support; and iii) Encouraging students to practice and share comprehensionboosting reading techniques with their peers, under the teacher's guidance [20]. ...
... According to previous studies [5,13,[19][20][21], the reciprocal teaching approach significantly enhances students' outcomes. For example, Kula and Budak (2020) found a significant difference between the fourth grade students in the experimental group (who used the reciprocal teaching method) and the control group (who used the traditional Turkish teaching methodology) [21]. ...
Reciprocal teaching method has been proven to be effective for reading comprehension. However, in Vietnam, primary school teachers are still unacquainted with this method. Thus, this study investigated the current situation of teaching and learning informational texts among third grade students in Vietnam in order to highlight the need for reciprocal teaching in the reading comprehension of informational texts. Based on a sample of 272 primary school teachers and their responses on a self-designed survey questionnaire, the teachers still struggle with identifying informational texts and have yet to focus on guiding students to extract the lessons/meanings from the texts and apply them in their daily lives. In this regard, the lack of informational text reading strategies and the limited exposure to the new curriculum may be contributing factors. Meanwhile, the contents of the informational texts were deemed appropriate for the children’s understanding and they helped maintain their interest in finding the main idea of each paragraph. Considering the benefits of reciprocal teaching, future research in Vietnam should explore the application of this method in subjects beyond reading comprehension such as mathematics, science, physics, etc.
... As it is important to gain insight into teachers' enactment of reading interventions (e.g., Beerwinkle et al., 2018;Bohaty et al., 2015;Okkinga et al., 2021), we collected some data related to treatment fidelity. We observed two intervention lessons per teacher (n = 20) and one business-as-usual lesson per teacher (n = 10) to carefully describe the content and instructional approach of the curriculum. ...
... In addition, individual activities were regularly skipped. This might have been be affected by time management and scheduling issues (Gillies & Boyle, 2010;Hebert et al., 2018), as well as by limited teacher knowledge and skills related to collaborative learning (Okkinga et al., 2021;Veldman et al., 2020). Although it is tempting to suggest that the lack of a GRR has tempered the effectiveness of TOP, the implementation data are too limited. ...
Although knowledge of informational text structures can promote text comprehension, this topic receives little attention in the Dutch primary school curriculum. 201 Dutch students in grades 4-6 participated with their teachers (n = 10) in this quasi-experimental study with a switching-panels replication design. Students either first followed a text structure intervention (TOP) and then went back to business-as-usual, or the other way around. During the intervention, teachers taught their students about the characteristics of four informational text structures, and how to use structure-specific graphic organizers to organize main ideas for each structure. In addition, several writing tasks related to the different text structures were included. At three measurement occasions, students completed text structure tests, reading comprehension tests, summarization tasks, and writing tasks. Only the fourth graders in one iteration of the intervention showed immediate effects over and above the effect of business-as-usual lessons on the text structure test (d = 0.50), the reading comprehension test (d = 0.53), the summarization task (d = 0.48). In both iterations of the intervention, an immediate effect was found on writing (d = 0.33 and d = 0.39). These findings are discussed in the light of test-related issues and implementation fidelity data.
... This article discusses whether principles of reciprocal teaching can improve low-achieving adolescents' reading comprehension in whole-classroom settings and to what extent the treatment effects are dependent on implementation quality. They found clarifying as one strategy that can help in addressing the problem of the students especially those who have problems in terms of comprehension skills (Okkinga et al., 2021). Table 4 shows the students' perception of their teachers' level of practice on Reciprocal Reading Strategies in terms of Summarizing. ...
... This article discusses whether principles of reciprocal teaching can improve low-achieving adolescents' reading comprehension in whole-classroom settings and to what extent treatment effects are dependent on implementation quality. They found clarifying as one strategy that can help in addressing the problem in comprehension (Okkinga et al., 2021). ...
Bu araştırmanın genel amacı; karşılıklı öğretim tekniğinin hafif derecede zihinsel yetersizliği olan öğrencilerin 6. sınıf Sosyal Bilgiler dersinde okuduğu metinleri anlama becerilerinin üzerindeki etkisini incelemektir. Araştırmada tek-denekli araştırma modellerinden denekler arası çoklu yoklama modeli kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın denekleri, hafif düzeyde zihinsel yetersizliği tanısı olan üç altıncı sınıf öğrencisinden oluşmuştur. Araştırma boyunca kamera, okuma metinleri ve soruları, sesli okuma testi ve sosyal geçerlik ölçek formu gibi veri toplama araçları kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen veriler; görsel/grafiksel ve betimsel analiz ile değerlendirilmiştir. Araştırmanın bulgularına göre, karşılıklı öğretim tekniğinin hafif düzeyde zihinsel yetersizliği olan öğrencilerin okuduğunu anlama becerilerinde yüksek etki büyüklüğü ile kalıcı ve etkili olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Okuduğunu anlama becerisi artan öğrencilerin doğal olarak akademik düzeyde başarısı artacağı için, diğer zihinsel yetersizlik tanısı olan öğrencilerle karşılıklı öğretim tekniği uygulanabilir.
Research has demonstrated that in controlled experiments in which small groups are being tutored by researchers, reading-strategy instruction is highly effective in fostering reading comprehension (Palincsar & Brown, Cognition and Instruction, 1(2), 117–175, 1984). It is unclear, however, whether reading-strategy interventions are equally effective in whole-classroom situations in which the teacher is the sole instructor for the whole class. This meta-analysis focuses on the effects of reading-strategy interventions in whole-classroom settings. Results of studies on the effectiveness of reading-strategy interventions in whole-classroom settings were summarized (Nstudies = 52, K = 125) to determine the overall effects on reading comprehension and strategic ability. In addition, moderator effects of intervention, study, and student characteristics were explored. The analysis demonstrated a very small effect on reading comprehension (Cohen’s d = .186) for standardized tests and a small effect (Cohen’s d = .431) on researcher-developed reading comprehension tests. A medium overall effect was found for strategic ability (Cohen’s d = .786). Intervention effects tended to be lower for studies that did not control for the hierarchical structure of the data (i.e. multilevel analyses).For interventions in which “setting reading goals” was part of the reading-strategy package, effects tended to be larger. In addition, effects were larger for interventions in which the trainer was the researcher as opposed to teachers and effect sizes tended to be larger for studies conducted in grades 6–8. Implications of these findings for future research and educational practice are discussed.
Low‐achieving adolescents are known to have difficulties with reading comprehension. This article discusses how reciprocal teaching can improve low‐achieving adolescents' reading comprehension in whole‐classroom settings (as opposed to small‐group settings) and to what extent intervention effects are dependent on teacher behaviour. Over the course of 1 year, experimental teachers (n = 10) were given extensive training and coaching aimed at using principles of reciprocal teaching, while control teachers (n = 10) used their regular teaching method. Observations of teacher behaviour were focused on instruction of reading strategies, modelling and support of group work and were performed in both experimental and control classes, comprising a total of 369 students (mean age = 13.01). Our study shows that reciprocal teaching contributed to adolescent low achievers' reading comprehension only when experimental teachers provided high‐quality strategy instruction. In addition, results suggest that the quality of implementation of reciprocal teaching in whole‐classroom settings should receive more research attention.
Highlights
What is already known about this topic
• Reciprocal teaching is a method of instructing and guiding learners in reading comprehension.
• It consists of a set of three related instructional principles: (a) teaching comprehension‐fostering reading strategies; (b) expert modelling, scaffolding and fading; and (c) students practising and discussing reading strategies with other students, guided and coached by the teacher.
• High quality of implementation of reciprocal teaching by teachers in classrooms is difficult.
What this paper adds
• After 1 year of implementing reciprocal teaching, no main effects of the treatment were established.
• Intervention effects were moderated by quality of instruction: strategy instruction led to higher scores on reading comprehension in the treatment condition but not in the control condition.
• Implementation of the instructional principles was by no means optimal: teachers were unable to provide detailed guidance to students working in small groups and modelling of strategies requires more experience and theoretical insight in the use and nature of reading strategies.
Implications for practice and/or policy
• Extensive training and coaching are needed for teachers to become experts in reciprocal teaching.
• Teachers need hands‐on tools to be able to guide students in their collaborative group work and to fade the teachers' role in order to allow more individual self‐regulation by students in their use of strategies.
• Implementation quality has to be taken into account when doing effectiveness research and when adopting new, theory‐based didactic approaches.
This meta-analysis examined the influence of attributes related to the implementation of learning strategy instruction interventions on students’ academic performance, and also examined how the attributes related to the method of testing the intervention effects affected the actual effects measured. Using metaregression, we analyzed the influence of the subject domain in which the intervention was implemented, the implementer, its duration and intensity, student cooperation, and research method aspects (including measurement instrument). Most attributes moderated the intervention effect. Using forward regression analysis, we only needed four attributes to obtain the best model, however. This analysis showed that the intervention effect was lower when a standardized test was used for evaluation instead of an unstandardized test. Interventions implemented by assistants or researchers were more effective than those implemented by teachers or using computers. Cooperation had a negative, and session duration a positive, contribution. Together, these attributes explained 63.2% of the variance in effect, which stresses the importance of emphasizing not only the instructional focus of an intervention but also its other attributes.
This study examined the effects and fidelity of collaborative strategic reading (CSR) implemented by experienced CSR teachers (participated in previous study; Vaughn et al., 2011) on the reading comprehension outcomes of students in English/Language Arts (ELA) or Reading classes. Eligible teachers (12 of 17; others reassigned to teach grades/subjects not eligible for inclusion) in middle schools in Texas and Colorado who participated in the previous year in a study examining the effects of CSR on the reading comprehension outcomes of their students participated in a 2nd-year, new cohort of students. Teachers taught multiple sections of ELA or reading; sections were randomly assigned to a treatment or comparison condition, and any extra classes were assigned to the treatment condition. There were 26 CSR and 22 comparison classes. Teachers were asked to implement CSR in their treatment classes only for approximately two 50-min sessions per week for 18 weeks. Examining the role of fidelity revealed that CSR was more prevalent in treatment classes than the comparison classes and that ELA teachers had significantly less treatment spillover than the Reading teachers. Findings indicate that CSR was associated with a greater effect when implemented in ELA classrooms compared to Reading classrooms.
In this experimental study, we examined the effects of a multicomponent reading
comprehension intervention in sixth- to eighth-grade English language arts classes with a focus
on factors to enhance treatment implementation. We tested the contribution of a theoretically
derived fidelity framework that included adherence, quality, dosage, program differentiation,
and student responsiveness. The study was conducted in three schools, involving 14 teachers
and 859 students. English language arts classes were randomly assigned to the Comprehension
Circuit Training intervention (n=30) or typical practice comparison (n=31) conditions, and all
teachers taught in both conditions. Findings indicated that there was no reliable difference between the intervention and typical practice groups on standardized or researcher-developed
proximal measures. To investigate the relationship between fidelity and student outcomes, we
conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to determine the relation of the indicators to a
latent fidelity factor. Results of the CFA revealed a single fidelity factor composed of the
adherence, quality, dosage, student responsiveness, and program differentiation variables. The
fidelity factor was statistically significantly related to outcomes on a standardized comprehension
measure (γ=.86, p<.01) and a narrative measure (γ=.52, p<.01). Results underscore the
need to consider the complexity of implementing multicomponent interventions in middle
schools and the importance of measuring multiple dimensions of the implementation of
fidelity.
Abstract: In this experimental study we examined the effects of integrating teacher-directed
knowledge-building and student-regulated comprehension practices in 7th- to 10th-grade English
language arts classes. We also investigated the effect of instructional quality and whether integrating
practices differentially benefitted students with lower entry-level reading comprehension. The study
was conducted in 6 schools, involving 17 teachers and 921 students. Teachers’ English language arts
classes were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 36) or typical practice comparison (n = 29)
conditions, and all teachers taught in both conditions. Students in both conditions grew significantly
from pretest to posttest on proximal measures of narrative (ES = .09) and expository comprehension
(ES = .22), as well as a standardized distal comprehension measure (ES = .46); however, no
statistically significant between-group differences were found. Although intervention fidelity did not
significantly influence outcomes, observational data indicated that teachers increasingly incorporated
comprehension practices in their typical instruction. Effect sizes indicated a differential influence of
entry-level reading comprehension on proximal and distal comprehension with higher performing
readers in the intervention condition benefiting more than their lower performing peers on expository
comprehension.
When students read their school text, they may make a coherent mental representation of it that contains coherence relations between the text segments. The construction of such a representation is a prerequisite for learning from texts. This article focuses on the influence of connectives (therefore, furthermore) and layout (continuous placement of sentences vs. each sentence beginning a new line) on the dynamics of the reading process as well as the quality of students' mental representation. The results shed light on the cognitive reading processes of students in secondary education, which allows us to explain effects of text features on off-line comprehension measures. Our eye-tracking data emphasize the importance of connectives: Connectives speed up students' processing, especially when texts have a continuous layout. In contrast, students' processing slows when they read texts with a discontinuous layout. Our data also show a correlation between reading times and scores on bridging inference tasks: Students who read faster have higher comprehension scores. These findings indicate that explicit texts with a continuous layout place fewer processing demands on students' working memory.
This meta-analysis synthesizes the literature on interventions for struggling readers in Grades 4 through 12 published between 1980 and 2011. It updates Scammacca et al.'s analysis of studies published between 1980 and 2004. The combined corpus of 82 study-wise effect sizes was meta-analyzed to determine (a) the overall effectiveness of reading interventions studied over the past 30 years, (b) how the magnitude of the effect varies based on student, intervention, and research design characteristics, and (c) what differences in effectiveness exist between more recent interventions and older ones. The analysis yielded a mean effect of 0.49, considerably smaller than the 0.95 mean effect reported in 2007. The mean effect for standardized measures was 0.21, also much smaller than the 0.42 mean effect reported in 2007. The mean effects for reading comprehension measures were similarly diminished. Results indicated that the mean effects for the 1980-2004 and 2005-2011 groups of studies were different to a statistically significant degree. The decline in effect sizes over time is attributed at least in part to increased use of standardized measures, more rigorous and complex research designs, differences in participant characteristics, and improvements in the school's "business-as-usual" instruction that often serves as the comparison condition in intervention studies.
Many children struggle to learn to read, and these difficulties can persist well into adulthood. To address this problem, researchers have investigated the processes that underlie reading. An informative body of work has thus identified basic skills (e.g., decoding, vocabulary knowledge) as necessary for successful reading. Researchers also have begun to examine comprehension skills and their contributions to the reading process. In this article we describe research from the cognitive sciences on the processes that underlie higher-order, coherence-oriented comprehension to provide an empirically and theoretically driven perspective for investigating struggling readers' difficulties. We show that this perspective is particularly beneficial in the development and assessment of instructional approaches by relating it to existing, effective interventions. Finally, we demonstrate how our own research activities have derived from this perspective and how preliminary findings extend our understanding of readers' difficulties. This work seeks to address existing challenges in the field of reading comprehension while also suggesting new ways of investigating the plight of struggling readers.
A multiple baseline across-groups design was used to assess the effects of specific, overt instruction in summarizing, self-questioning, clarifying, and predicting on the comprehension of poor reading comprehenders' reading nonfiction material in a regular classroom setting. Heterogeneous reading groups from two parallel classes of Standard 3 and 4 children were instructed using reciprocal teaching procedures. Between-phase comparisons for both experimental groups showed significant improvements in comprehension scores on the Progressive Achievement Test and in daily comprehension tests across the 20 days of instruction, gains not evident in the test results of a no-treatment, story reading, and attention-only comparison group. Observed gains in both treatment groups were maintained at an 8-week follow-up, and test probes assessing reading comprehension on fiction material indicate generalization across these literary genre. Implications of these findings for the implementation of reciprocal teaching procedures in regular class settings are discussed.
Reports from research and the larger educational community demonstrate that too many students have limited ability to comprehend texts. The research reported here involved a two‐year study in which standardized comprehension instruction for representations of two major approaches was designed and implemented. The effectiveness of the two experimental comprehension instructional conditions (Content and Strategies) and a control condition were compared. Content instruction focused student attention on the content of the text through open, meaning‐based questions about the text. In strategies instruction, students were taught specific procedures to guide their access to text during reading of the text. Lessons for the control approach were developed using questions available in the Teacher 's Edition of the basal reading program used in the participating classrooms. Student participants were all fifth graders in a low‐performing urban district. In addition to assessments of comprehension of lesson texts and an analysis of lesson discourse, three assessments were developed to compare student ability to transfer knowledge gained. The results were consistent from Year 1 to Year 2. No differences were seen on one measure of lesson text comprehension, the sentence verification technique (SVT). However, for narrative recall and expository learning probes, Content students outperformed Strategies students, and occasionally, the Basal control students outperformed Strategies students. For one of the transfer assessments, there was a modest effect in favor of the Content students. Transcripts of the lessons were examined and differences in amount of talk about the text and length of student response also favored the Content condition.
[Note: Margaret McKeown discusses the research presented in this article in a podcast presented by the “Voice of Literacy”: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts34422 .]
تشير التقارير من الأبحاث والمجتمع التعلمي الكبير إلى أن عدد الطلاب الذين عندهم مهارات محدودة في فهم النصوص زيادة عن اللزوم. وقد اشتمل البحث المقدم ها هنا على دراسة مدتها سنتان فيها تم تصميم تعليم استيعاب معياري وتنفيذه لنماذج منهاجين رئيسيين. وقد تمت مقارنة فعالية حالتي تعليم استيعاب اختباري (المحتوى والاستراتيجيات) وحالة ضابطة. ركز تعليم المحتوى انتباه الطلاب على محتوى النص من خلال أسئلة مفتوحة مبنية على معنى النص. وفي تعليم الإستراتيجيات تم تعليم الطلاب عمليات معينة كي توجه سبيلهم إلى النص خلال قرائته. وقد تم تطوير المنهاج الضابط مستخدماً الأسئلة المتوفرة في طبعة الأستاذ من برنامج القراءة الأساسية المستخدمة في الصفوف المشتركة. كان كل المشتركين في الصف الخامس ومن منطقة شعبية منخفضة الأداء. بالإضافة إلى اختبارات استيعاب نصوص الدروس وتحليل خطاب الدرس تم تطوير ثلاثة اختبارات كي تقارن قدرة الطالب على تحويل المعرفة المكتسبة. وكانت النتائج متفقة من السنة الأولى إلى السنة الثانية ولم تجد اختلافات في مقياس استيعاب نص الدرس المسمى تقنية إثبات الجملة. لكن من حيث الاسترجاع السردي وسبر التعلم الاستعراضي تفوق طلاب المحتوى على طلاب الإستراتيجيات وفي بعض الأحيان تفوقت مجموعة طلاب الضابطة على طلاب الإستراتيجيات. وكان هنالك تأثير متواضع لصالح طلاب المحتوى في اختبار من اختبرات التحويل. وقد تم فحص نسخة الدروس والاختلافات في مقدار الحديث عن النص وطول رد الطالب وهذا أيضاً كان لصالح حالة المحتوى.
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts34422 .]
研究报告以及较为广大的教育社区均证明太多学生缺乏文本阅读理解能力。本报告是关于一项为期两年的研究，其研究目的是设计和实施代表着标准化阅读理解教学的两种主要教学法。该两个阅读理解教学法(内容和策略) 的实验组与对照组接受效能试验。内容教学组主要是透过使用开放式及以意义为主的问题，指导学生专注于理解文本的内容。策略教学组则教授具体的阅读策略程序，指导学生在阅读时跟随这些策略程序，帮助理解文本的意义。对照组所采用的教学法，只是使用参与班所采用的基本阅读课程教师用书中的问题进行教学。参加该项研究的都是来自学业成绩低的市区学校的小学五年级学生。研究者除了评估学生对课堂文本的理解能力和分析课堂话语之外，更发展了三项评估，以比较学生转移习得知识的能力。从第一年到第二年所得的研究结果均显示有一致性。在句子核对技巧(SVT)这项课堂文本理解测试的结果上，没有出现任何差别。然而，在叙事文记忆测试和说明文学习探析测试方面，内容组学生却比策略组学生有较好的成绩；基本课程对照组学生偶尔也会比策略组学生有较好的成绩。其中一项转移评估结果显示对内容组学生有些微较有利的效果。课堂对话文字记录的审查结果亦显示，内容组学生在谈论文本的份量和学生回应的长度方面，均较胜于其他组。
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgpostsxxxx .]
Les comptes rendus de recherche et plus largement la communauté pédagogique indiquent que de trop nombreux étudiants ont des compétences limitées en compréhension de textes. La recherche que nous rapportons ici est une étude de deux ans au cours de laquelle on a planifié et mis en place un enseignement standardisé de la compréhension représentant les deux principales approches. On a comparé expérimentalement l'efficacité des deux conditions d'enseignement de la compréhension (le contenu et les stratégies) avec une condition contrôle. L'enseignement du contenu centrait l'attention de l'élève sur le contenu du texte à l'aide de questions ouvertes, basées sur le sens du texte. Dans l'enseignement par stratégies, on a enseigné aux élèves des stratégies pour guider leur accès au texte lors de la lecture de celui‐ci. Les leçons du groupe contrôle ont été réalisées en utilisant les questions offertes dans le manuel du maître du programme de lecture de base des classes de cette recherche. Les élèves étaient tous les élèves de cinquième année d'une circonscription urbaine ayant de faibles résultats. Outre l'évaluation de la compréhension des textes des leçons et de l'analyse du discours de la leçon, on a développé trois évaluations pour comparer l'habileté des élèves à transférer les connaissances acquises. Les résultats ont été semblables la 1 ère et la 2 ème année. On n'a pas trouvé de différences dans la mesure de la compréhension du texte de la leçon par la technique de vérification de phrase. Cependant, pour le rappel de textes narratifs et informatifs, les élèves par l'approche du contenu ont dépassé les élèves par stratégies, et de même les élèves du groupe contrôle avec manuel ont dépassé les élèves par stratégies. Dans une des évaluations relatives au transfert, on a observé un modeste effet en faveur des élèves par le contenu. On a examiné des transcriptions de leçons, et les différences quant au temps passé à parler des textes et à la longueur des réponses des élèves est aussi en faveur de la condition par le contenu.
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts34422 .]
Исследователи и педагогическое сообщество обеспокоены: слишком много учащихся демонстрируют ограниченную способность к восприятию текстов. В статье описано двухлетнее исследовании, для которого были разработаны и применены стандартные процедуры обучения пониманию текста в рамках двух основных подходов, существующих в этой области, – содержательного и методического. Эффективность этих подходов сравнивалась между собой и с результатами контрольной группы. Содержательный подход сосредотачивает внимание учащихся на содержании текста через постановку открытых, значимых вопросов. В рамках методического подхода школьников обучают определенным процедурам, которые позволяют понять текст в процессе чтения. Уроки в контрольной группе планировались на основе вопросов из Книги для учителя, сопровождающей базовую программу развития навыков чтения, по которой до этого учились все участники эксперимента – пятиклассники из городской школы с достаточно низкой успеваемостью. В дополнение к оценке понимания прочитанных текстов и к анализу учебного дискурса, были разработаны три оценочных критерия для сравнения умений учащихся ретранслировать полученные знания. Результаты были неизменны в течение двух лет. Никаких различий между группами не было отмечено по пониманию прочитанных текстов на уровне предложений (SVT). Однако, в сюжетном пересказе и в понимании сущностных моментов группа, обучавшаяся по содержательной модели, всегда оставляла остальные две группы позади, а контрольная группа изредка обгоняла группу, обучавшуюся по методической модели. По одному из параметров, связанных с ретрансляцией полученных знаний, также был отмечен незначительный перевес в пользу детей, обучавшихся в рамках содержательного подхода. При расшифровке стенограммы уроков определялось количество и длина высказываний учащихся по тексту. Здесь также преимущество осталось за детьми, учившимися по содержательной модели.
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts34422 .]
Informes provenientes de la investigación y la comunidad docente en general demuestran que hay demasiados estudiantes que no entienden textos debido a sus limitadas habilidades. La investigación presentada aquí consta de un estudio de dos años en el cual se diseñó e implementó una instrucción estandardizada de comprensión para las representaciones de dos acercamientos importantes. Se comparó la eficacia de dos condiciones experimentales de comprensión de instrucción (Contenido y Estrategias) y una condición de control. La enseñanza del contenido concentró la atención de los estudiantes en el contenido del texto haciéndoles preguntas abiertas basadas en el significado del texto. En la enseñanza de estrategia, se les enseñaron a los estudiantes procesos específicos para guiar su entendimiento del texto al leer. Las lecciones para el grupo de control se basaron en las preguntas disponibles en la Edición para el Instructor del programa básico de lectura usado en los salones de clase que participaron en el estudio. Todos los estudiantes eran del quinto grado de un distrito urbano de bajo rendimiento. Además de la evaluación de la comprensión de textos usados en la lección y un análisis del discurso de la lección, se desarrollaron tres evaluaciones para comparar la habilidad de los estudiantes para transferir el conocimiento aprendido. Los resultados fueron constantes del Año 1 al Año 2. No se notó diferencia alguna en una de las medidas de la comprensión del texto, la técnica de verificar la oración (SVT por sus siglas en inglés). Sin embargo, los estudiantes de contenido lograron más que los estudiantes de estrategias en cuanto a recordar la narración y aprender de lo expuesto en la lectura y, de vez en cuando, los estudiantes básicos de control también lograron más que los estudiantes de estrategias. En una de las evaluaciones de transferencia los estudiantes de contenido sobrepasaron un poco a los otros. Se examinaron los guiones de las lecciones y se encontró que los estudiantes de contenido también sobrepasaron en la cantidad de conversación sobre el texto y la duración de sus respuestas.
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts34422 .]
As an example of how the effectiveness of well-designed laboratory interventions is often diffused in the field, we examined the effects of a motivation intervention on students' perceptions and learning. The intervention proved to be more effective in the laboratory (g = 0.45) than the field (g = 0.05) in enhancing subsequent motivation. We explored this reduction in treatment effectiveness through a fidelity analysis that examined the extent to which participants responded to the treatment. We calculated fidelity as three indices of achieved relative treatment strength (Cordray & Pion, 20064.
Cordray , D. S. . The cause … or the ‘what’ of what works?. Paper presented at the Institute for Education Sciences 2006 Research Conference. Washington, DC. June, View all references), and found that, regardless of how fidelity was calculated, achieved relative strength was about 1 standard deviation less in the classroom than the laboratory. In addition, greater levels of achieved relative strength were associated with greater differences in the motivational outcome—indicating that intervention was more effective for participants who actually received the treatment than those who did not. Multilevel analyses indicated that the drop in classroom treatment fidelity was partially because of teacher, rather than student, factors. Implications for theoretical models of change and research are discussed.
Treatment fidelity reporting practices are described for journals that published general and special education intervention research with high impact factors from 2005 through 2009. The authors reviewed research articles, reported the proportion of intervention studies that described fidelity measurement, detailed the components of fidelity measurement reported, and determined whether the components of fidelity reported differed based on the research design, the type of intervention, or the number of intervention sessions. Results indicate that even intervention research articles in high-quality general and special education journals inconsistently report fidelity (less than 70% of the articles). Authors of single-case studies most frequently reported the collection of intervention fidelity data (81.3% of articles, compared with 67.4% of treatment-comparison study articles). Of the 67% of articles that provided information about intervention fidelity procedure, only 9.8% provided data about the quality of the treatment intervention.
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This study investigated the relationship between reading comprehension development of 389 adolescents in their dominant language (Language 1 [L1], Dutch) and a foreign language (Language 2 [L2], English). In each consecutive year from Grades 8 through 10, a number of measurements were taken. Students' reading comprehension, their linguistic knowledge (vocabulary and grammar knowledge) and processing efficiency (speed of word recognition and sentence comprehension) in both languages, and their metacognitive knowledge about reading were assessed. The relative strengths of the effects of these components of reading were analyzed to distinguish among 3 hypotheses about the relationship between L1 and L2 reading comprehension: the transfer hypothesis, the threshold hypothesis, and the processing efficiency hypothesis. The transfer hypothesis predicts a strong relationship between L1 and L2 reading comprehension and a strong effect of metacognitive knowledge on L2 reading comprehension, whereas the threshold and processing efficiency hypotheses predict a more important role of language-specific knowledge and processing skills. Results support the transfer hypothesis, although language-specific knowledge and fluency also contribute to L2 reading performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate teachers' implementation and practice of reciprocal teaching (RT) in 2 elementary schools. Over a 3-year period, 17 elementary school teachers participated in the implementation of RT. The obstacles they encountered and modifications made to RT were examined in vivo. Teachers modified their practice of RT, and the authors examined their modifications using 3 elements of RT: strategy use, dialogue, and scaffolded instruction. The focus was on whether these 3 essential elements remained in the teachers' constructions of RT. The authors also focused on whether teachers added anything new to RT. Theory and guidelines that can be used to help teachers with the implementation and practice of RT are developed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The authors report results of a study into the role of components of first-language (L1; Dutch) and second-language (L2; English) reading comprehension. Differences in the contributions of components of L1 and L2 reading comprehension are analyzed, in particular processing speed in L1 and L2. Findings indicate that regression weights of the L1 and L2 components are different. Although correlations between most processing speed components and reading comprehension are substantial, there are no unique contributions to the explanation of either L1 or L2 reading comprehension when linguistic and metacognitive knowledge are accounted for. In addition, L1 reading comprehension is shown to have a large contribution to L2 reading comprehension, supporting theories of L1-L2 transfer of reading skills. Results are discussed from a developmental perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the reading of middle and high school students: (1) reading curricula, (2) mixed‐method models (methods that combine large‐and small‐group instruction with computer activities), (3) computer‐assisted instruction, and (4) instructional‐process programs (methods that focus on providing teachers with extensive professional development to implement specific instructional methods). Criteria for inclusion in the study were use of randomized or matched control groups, a study duration of at least 12 weeks, and valid achievement measures that were independent of the experimental treatments. A total of 33 studies met these criteria. The review concludes that programs designed to change daily teaching practices have substantially greater research support than those focused on curriculum or technology alone. Positive achievement effects were found for instructional‐process programs, especially for those involving cooperative learning, and for mixed‐method programs. The effective approaches provided extensive professional development and significantly affected teaching practices. In contrast, no studies of reading curricula met the inclusion criteria, and the effects of supplementary computer‐assisted instruction were small.
[Note: Robert Slavin discusses the research presented in this article in a podcast presented by the “Voice of Literacy”: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts27155 ].
تستعرض هذه المقالة بانتظام أبحاثاً علمية فيما يتعلق بالنتائج التحصيلية لأربعة أنواع من الاتجاهات التي تهدف إلى تحسين مهارة القراءة لدى الطلاب في الإعدادية والثانوية: (1) مناهج قرائية و(2) نماذج متعددة الطرق (أي الطرق التي تجمع بين تعليم مجموعات كبيرة وصغيرة وبين أنشطة حاسوبية) و(3) التعليم بمساعدة الحاسوب و(4) برامج عملية التعليم (أي الطرق التي تركز على توفير المعلمين بتطوير ممتد في الحرفة لتنفيذ طرق تعليمية معينة). وفيما يلي المعايير المحددة لكي تدخل معلومة في البحث أولاً استخدام مجموعات ضابطة ذات الصبغة العشوائية أو المتماثلة وثانياً لا تقل مدة البحث عن 12 أسبوعاً وثالثاً نتائج تحصيلية سليمة مستقلة عن العلاجات التجريبية وفي المجموع 33 بحثاً وفت بهذه المعايير. استنتجت هذه المراجعة أن البرامج المصممة لتغيير الممارسات التعليمية اليومية قد اكتسبت دعماً بحثياً أكثر بكثير من البرامج التي ركزت على المنهاج الدراسي أو التقنية فحسب. وقد تم إيجاد تأثيرات تحصيلية إيجابية للبرامج المبنية على عملية تعليمية لا سيما التي تشتمل على التعلم التعاوني والبرامج المتعددة الطرق. وقد وفرت الاتجاهات الفعالة التطوير الممتد للحرفة وأثرت على الممارسات التعليمية بشكل كبير وعلى النقيض من ذلك لم يفِ أي بحث علمي في المنهاج القرائي بمعايير دخول هذه الدراسة وكانت تأثيرات التعليم التكميلي بمساعدة الحاسوب ضئيلة.
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts27155 ].
本文有系统地回顾有关以四个不同途径改善初、高中生阅读成果的研究：(1)从学生阅读课程着手，(2)采用混合教学模式(结合了大班、小组授课和电脑活动的教学法)，(3)采用电脑辅助教学法，(4)采用教学过程训练课程(集中提供教师广泛的专业发展，帮助他们实施一些专门的教学法)。纳入研究回顾之标准为：研究采用随机样本或对照组，研究起码持续至十二周，学习成果考验方法正确有效，独立于不同实验组所进行的实验处理。有33个研究符合这些标准，被纳入回顾。本文的结论是：训练课程的设计若是针对改变教师的日常教学实践，较光是针对阅读课程或电脑科技，有更充分的研究实证支持。教学过程训练课程，尤其是那些采用合作学习和混合教学模式的，被证实有正向的学习成效。这些有效的教学过程训练课程，为教师提供广泛的专业发展，并明显地改变了他们的教育实践。反观在阅读课程方面的研究，没有一个能符合纳入标准，而电脑辅助教学的增补，其效果则不大。
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts27155 ].
Cet article passe en revue de façon systématique les recherches sur les effets en termes de réussite de quatre types d'approches pour améliorer la lecture d'élèves de fin primaire et de secondaire: 1) programmes de lecture, 2) modèles de méthode mixte (méthodes qui combinent un enseignement en grand groupe et en petit groupe avec des activités sur ordinateur), 3) enseignement assisté par ordinateur, et 4) programmes par processus de formation (méthodes visant à offrir aux maîtres un développement professionnel important pour implanter des méthodes d'enseignement spécifiques). On a pris comme critères d'inclusion dans l'étude l'utilisation de groupes de contrôle aléatoires ou appariés, une durée d'étude d'au moins 12 semaines, et des mesures valides de réussite qui soient indépendantes des traitements expérimentaux. 33 études au total respectent ces critères. l'étude conclut que les programmes conçus pour changer les pratiques quotidiennes d'enseignement bénéficient d'un soutien institutionnel substantiellement supérieur à celles qui sont centrées uniquement sur le programme ou sur la technologie. On a trouvé des effets positifs sur la réussite pour les programmes par processus de formation, et tout particulièrement pour ceux qui comportent un apprentissage coopératif, et pour des programmes de méthode mixte. Les approches efficaces permettent un développement professionnel important et ont un effet significatif sur les pratiques d'enseignement. Par contre, aucune étude sur les programmes n'a satisfait aux conditions d'inclusion, et les effets d'un enseignement supplémentaire assisté par ordinateur sont minces.
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts27155 ].
Данная статья являет собой системный обзор исследований, посвященных четырем подходам к улучшению навыков чтения среди учащихся средней и старшей школы, т .е. (1) отдельным учебным программам по чтению, (2) моделям смешанной деятельности (которые сочетают обучение в больших и малых группах с выполнением заданий на компьютере), (3) обучению через компьютерные программы и (4) программам по совершенствованию учебного процесса (которые обеспечивают учителя разнообразным профессиональным арсеналом для реализации определенных учебных методов). Критерии для включения исследований в данный обзор были следующие: использование случайных или сходных контрольных групп; продолжительность не менее трех месяцев; валидные способы оценки результатов, не зависящие от методов самого исследования. Этим критериям соответствовали 33исследования. На основе обзора был сделан следующий вывод: программы, предусматривающие ежедневное совершенствование методов обучения, оцениваются исследователями значительно выше, нежели те, которые сосредоточены исключительно на учебных программах или компьютерных технологиях. Положительные результаты были выявлены для программ по совершенствованию учебного процесса, особенно тех, которые используют кооперативное обучение, а также для модели смешанной деятельности. Эффективные подходы неизменно базируются на профессиональном развитии учителей и коренным образом затрагивают методы обучения. В отличие от них, ни одно исследование учебных программ по чтению вообще не соответствовало критериям данного обзора, а учебный эффект от компьютерного обучения оказался минимальным.
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts27155 ].
Este artículo examina sistemáticamente la investigación sobre los resultados logrados en cuatro tipos de acercamientos al mejoramiento de la lectura en estudiantes entre el séptimo y decimosegundo grado: (1) el currículo o programa de lecturas, (2) modelos en los que se mezclan los métodos (métodos que combinan instrucción en grupos grandes y pequeños con actividades usando la computadora), (3) instrucción con la ayuda de la computadora, y (4) programas del proceso de enseñanza (métodos que se basan en el amplio desarrollo profesional de los maestros para que implementen métodos específicos de enseñanza). Para ser incluida en el estudio, la investigación tenía que haber usado grupos de control al azar o apareados, un plazo de estudio de por lo menos 12 semanas, y medidas válidas de los logros que obraran independientemente de los tratos experimentales. Un total de 33 estudios cumplieron estos requisitos. El examen llegó a la conclusión que los programas diseñados para cambiar el ejercicio diario de la enseñanza tienen mucho más apoyo investigativo que los que se concentran sólo en el currículo o la tecnología. Efectos de logros positivos fueron encontrados para los programas de proceso de enseñanza, especialmente para esos que incluían enseñanza cooperativa, y para los programas de métodos mixtos. Los acercamientos efectivos proveyeron un desarrollo profesional amplio y afectaron de forma significativa los hábitos de enseñanza. En contraste, ningún estudio sobre el currículo de lectura cumplió los requisitos, y los efectos de la enseñanza suplementada con el uso de computadoras fueron pocos.
[Podcast: http:www.voiceofliteracy.orgposts27155 ].
Two instructional studies directed at the comprehension-fostering and comprehension-monitoring activities of seventh grade poor comprehenders are reported. The four study activities were summarizing (self-review), questioning, clarifying, and predicting. The training method was that of reciprocal teaching, where the tutor and students took turns leading a dialogue centered on pertinent features of the text. In Study 1, a comparison between the reciprocal teaching method and a second intervention modeled on typical classroom practice resulted in greater gains and maintenance over time for the reciprocal procedure. Reciprocal teaching, with an adult model guiding the student to interact with the text in more sophisticated ways, led to a significant improvement in the quality of the summaries and questions. It also led to sizable gains on criterion tests of comprehension, reliable maintenance over time, generalization to classroom comprehension tests, transfer to novel tasks that tapped the trained skills of summarizing, questioning, and clarifying, and improvement in standardized comprehension scores. Many of these results were replicated in Study 2. In contrast to Study 1, which was conducted by an experimenter, Study 2 examined group interventions conducted by volunteer teachers with their existing reading groups.
Previous studies have shown that instruction of reading strategies is an effective method for enhancing reading comprehension. However, many of the interventions in these studies focused on small groups of (poor) comprehenders and were provided by research assistants, making it time-consuming and relatively expensive. The authors implemented a strategy intervention to intact classrooms, consisting of reciprocal teaching and delivered by teachers. Participants were 510 typically developing fourth-grade students. A clustered randomized controlled trial was conducted with pretest, posttest, and follow-up measures to assess knowledge of reading strategies and reading comprehension. The results revealed that the intervention had an effect on knowledge of reading strategies at posttest and follow-up. However, the intervention did not affect reading comprehension performance. Together with the results of earlier studies, the present study raises the question whether strategy interventions are the most efficient to improve fourth-grade students' reading comprehension.
In a longitudinal design, we measured 50 low-achieving adolescents’ reading comprehension development from Grades 7 to 9. There were 24 native Dutch and 26 language minority students. In addition, we assessed the roles of (a) linguistic knowledge, (b) metacognitive knowledge, and (c) reading fluency in predicting both the level and growth of reading comprehension. Students improved in reading comprehension, the language minority students more so than the native Dutch students. We can explain the level of reading comprehension by linguistic and metacognitive knowledge, whereas most fluency-related predictors appeared to be of minor importance. We can hardly explain the growth in reading comprehension by the predictors. Nevertheless, we found a significant interaction indicating that growth in vocabulary explained growth in reading comprehension for the language minority students. This finding seems to suggest that language minority students profit from gains in vocabulary, more so than native students.
In this study, the authors examine the impact of a yearlong supplemental reading course involving daily instruction in the learning strategies curriculum on lower achieving adolescent students' reading achievement and motivation. Using a multiple-cohort randomized treatment-control group design over 4 years, they compared achievement and motivation outcomes for 605 sixth-grade students who participated in the intervention with 530 students who did not participate and 593 ninth-grade students who participated in the intervention with 535 students who did not participate. Results indicated significant impacts of the intervention on reading achievement for ninth-grade students but not for sixth-grade students. Significant impacts on reading motivation were found for both sixth- and ninth-grade students. An exploratory follow-up study indicated potential benefits of a second year of intervention for sixth-grade students who are still low achieving after 1 year of intervention.
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This study aimed to answer the question of how many words of the Dutch language, and which words, an adult non-native speaker needs to know receptively in order to be able to understand first-year university reading materials In the first part of this study, an assessment was made of the representativeness of a list of 23,550 words (lemmas), taken from a school dictionary, for a 42 million-word token corpus of contemporary written Dutch It was found that, using frequency as a criterion, text coverage substantially increased with up to 11,123 words (i e words occurring more than 100 times in the corpus), but not beyond In the second part of the study, an assessment was made of the representativeness of the same list of 23,550 words for a relatively small corpus of first-year university reading materials The percentage of tokens covered in this small academic corpus did not differ substantially from the percentage of tokens covered in the big corpus analysed in the first part The third part of the study consisted of the development and administration of a 140-item multiple-choice vocabulary test aimed at measuring test takers' receptive knowledge of 18,615 content words of the 23,550 word list This test was administered to (i) native speakers entering university as freshmen, (u) non-native graduate students, and (m) non-native prospective students taking a Dutch language entry examination test battery Extrapolations of the test scores showed that the average vocabulary size of these three groups of test takers was 18,800, 15,800, and 11,200 respectively It is concluded that the minimal vocabulary size needed for university studies is 10,000 base words Earlier Dutch studies, suggesting that knowledge of 3,000 or 5,000 base words would suffice, appear to have underestimated such a minimal vocabulary 1
In this study we investigate the role of linguistic knowledge, fluency and meta-cognitive knowledge in Dutch reading comprehension of monolingual and bilingual adolescent academic low achievers in the Netherlands. Results show that these components are substantially associated with reading comprehension. However, their role appears to be different for the monolingual and bilingual low achievers. There are interactions between knowledge and fluency components with membership of the monolingual or bilingual group of low achievers, indicating that knowledge is more important in explaining reading comprehension of bilinguals, whereas fluency is more important in explaining the monolinguals’ reading comprehension. Explanations of this difference between monolingual and bilingual low achievers are discussed.
Previous research has demonstrated positive relations between intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence. However, the causal direction of these relations and the moderating role of relevant background variables (e.g., students' achievement level) are not well understood. In the present study, a cross-lagged panel model was applied to academic track and nonacademic track fifth grade students (N = 396) to test whether intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence are reciprocally related depending on the students' achievement level (indicated by school track affiliation). According to expectations, the cross-lagged effect of intrinsic reading motivation on reading competence was only significant for academic track students. In the nonacademic track group, neither the effect of intrinsic reading motivation on reading competence nor the reverse effect proved to be significant. Thus, the nature of the relation between intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence seems to depend on students' school track affiliation.
In this article we present an analysis of the relationship between L3 reading comprehension and its constituent skills for bilingual Dutch students for whom English is a third language(L3) compared to monolingual Dutch students for whom English is a second language(L2). An analogous analysis is made for their Dutch reading comprehension, Dutch being their L2 and L1 respectively. Participants are 13/14 year-old secondary school students. The point of departure in the analyses is a regression model in which reading proficiency is decomposed into three types of constituent components: linguistic knowledge(vocabulary and grammar), speed of processing linguistic knowledge(lexical access and sentence comprehension), and metacognitive knowledge(of text characteristics and strategies for reading and writing). Using structural equation modeling, we determined the contribution of constituent skills to Dutch L2 and L1, and English L3 and L2 reading comprehension. The results showed that, despite differences between the two groups in Dutch and English reading comprehension, no differences between the groups were found in the pattern of regression weights on the three types of constituent skills. Possible implications of these findings are discussed.
In this article, I combine results from several years of study in an attempt to understand 11 teachers' progress toward becoming expert strategy teachers. The article is based on a 4-year staff development program involving 8 rural school districts in northern Michigan, during which 46 teachers were intensively studied annually. I use those intensive studies, as well as less formal observations of other teacher participants, to describe a continuum of 9 ''points of progress'' teachers seem to go through in learning to teach strategies to their lowest achievers. I argue that this continuum spans past collective thinking of the field regarding strategy instruction and foreshadows where strategy instruction must go if it is to achieve its potential.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of three different forms of strategy instruction on 210 elementary-school students' reading comprehension. Students were assigned to any one of three intervention conditions or to a traditional instruction condition (control condition). Training students were taught four reading strategies (summarizing, questioning, clarifying, predicting) and practiced these strategies in small groups (reciprocal teaching), pairs, or instructor-guided small groups. At both the post- and follow-up test the intervention students attained higher scores on an experimenter-developed task of reading comprehension and strategy use than the control students who received traditional instruction. Furthermore, students who practiced reciprocal teaching in small groups outperformed students in instructor-guided and traditional instruction groups on a standardized reading comprehension test.
This study used multigroup structural equations to evaluate the possibility that a theory-driven, evidence-based, yearlong reading program for sixth-grade struggling readers moderates the interrelationships among elements of the simple model of reading (i.e., listening comprehension, word reading, and reading comprehension; Hoover & Gough, 1990). Our specific interest was in the relation of theory, program, and evaluation. Our motivating assumptions were that 1) a well-designed, theory-based program affects performance in predictable ways and that 2) treatment effects may be present even when group differences in posttest means are not robust. The analysis sample comprised 327 students, 113 in the business-as-usual condition and 214 in treatment. We pretested students in the fall of sixth grade and collected posttest data in the fall of seventh grade. There were 217 cases in the posttest sample, 47 comparison students and 170 treatment students at posttest. The findings support the possibility that treated sixth-grade students improved in response to an intensive, yearlong intervention, when conceptualizing change in terms of predictable interrelationships of important underlying skills, rather than in terms of group mean differences at posttest. Specifically, the results suggest that verbal knowledge is less proximal to the reading comprehension of students who have become proficient in the use of text processing and reading comprehension strategies.
In this paper, meta-analysis is used to identify components that are associated with effective metacognitive training programs in reading research. Forty-three studies, with an average of 81 students per study, were synthesized. It was found that metacognitive training could be more effectively implemented by using small-group instruction, as opposed to large-group instruction or one-to-one instruction. Less intensive programs were more effective than intensive programs. Program intensity was defined as the average number of days in a week that instruction was provided to students. Students in higher grades were more receptive to the intervention. Measurement artifacts, namely teaching to the test and use of nonstandardized tests and the quality of the studies synthesized played a significant role in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the metacognitive reading intervention. Appendixes contain ERIC keyword search; the coding instrument; coding instructions; interrater reliability; and formulas for the generalized least square regression coefficients and associated standard errors.) (Contains 1 figure, 4 tables of data, 55 references, and a list of 43 primary studies evaluated.)
This paper presents a theoretical account of the sequence and duration of eye fixation during a number of simple cognitive tasks, such as mental rotation, sentence verification, and quantitative comparison. In each case, the eye fixation behavior is linked to a processing model for the task by assuming that the eye fixates the referent of the symbol being operated on.
The aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in the relationship between reading ability, frequency of reading and attitudes and beliefs relating to reading and school. Two hundred and thirty-two 10-year-old children (117 male) completed a reading comprehension test and a questionnaire exploring the following areas: frequency of reading, attitude to reading, attitude to school, competency beliefs and perceived academic support (from peers and teacher). Overall, girls had better reading comprehension, read more frequently and had a more positive attitude to reading and school. However, smaller gender differences were found in reading ability than in attitudes and frequency of reading. Indeed, effect sizes for gender differences in reading were found to be small in this and other studies. Reading ability correlated with both boys' and girls' reading frequency and competency beliefs; however, only boys' reading ability was associated with their attitude to reading and school. Notably, gender differences were found predominantly in the relationship between factors, rather than solely in the factors themselves. Previous research has neglected to study these relationships, and has focused instead on the gender differences found in individual factors. Conclusions are made regarding the applicability of these findings to the school situation.
Specific effects of word decoding, vocabulary and listening comprehension abilities on the development of reading comprehension were longitudinally examined for a representative sample of 2143 Dutch children throughout the elementary school period. An attempt was made to test two theoretical frameworks for the prediction of the development of reading comprehension: the lexical quality hypothesis in which word decoding and vocabulary are assumed to be critical determinants of reading comprehension and the simple reading view in which reading comprehension is assumed to be the product of word decoding and listening comprehension. The results showed significant progress across grades on all of the predictor and criterion measures. The stability of the measures was also high across time, which shows the individual differences between students to remain across grades. Word decoding exerted a substantial effect on early reading comprehension and a small effect on later sixth grade reading comprehension. The data provide empirical support for the lexical quality hypothesis as they show knowledge of word forms and word meanings (i.e. vocabulary) to predict the development of reading comprehension. Support for the simple reading view was also found in that word decoding and listening comprehension significantly predicted reading comprehension as well. A combined structural model with word decoding, vocabulary and listening comprehension as predictors of reading comprehension showed a substantial impact of the three predictors on reading comprehension at first grade. In subsequent grades, vocabulary is still predicting reading comprehension directly whereas listening comprehension shows a reciprocal relationship with vocabulary. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The present study sought to clarify the relations amongst serial decoding, irregular word recognition, listening comprehension,
facets of oral vocabulary and reading comprehension in two cohorts of children differing in reading level. In the process,
the components of the simple view of reading were evaluated. Students in grades 1 (n=67) and 6 (n=56) were assessed on measures of phonological awareness, decoding, irregular word recognition, listening comprehension,
oral vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Even when all other measures were controlled, vocabulary was found to explain
reading comprehension in grade 6 but not grade 1. Vocabulary also predicted decoding in grade 6 and irregular word recognition
in both grades. These results are interpreted as supporting a not-so-simple view of the constructs underlying reading comprehension
that acknowledges complex connections between print skills and oral language.
A model of information processing in reading is described in which visual information is transformed through a series of processing stages involving visual, phonological and episodic memory systems until it is finally comprehended in the semantic system. The processing which occurs at each stage is assumed to be learned and the degree of this learning is evaluated with respect to two criteria: accuracy and automaticity. At the accuracy level of performance, attention is assumed to be necessary for processing; at the automatic level it is not. Experimental procedures are described which attempt to measure the degree of automaticity achieved in perceptual and associative learning tasks. Factors which may influence the development of automaticity in reading are discussed.
The effectiveness of Reciprocal Teaching, a reading comprehension instructional technique, has been repeatedly demonstrated. According to Brown and Campione (Innovations in Learning, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 289–325, 1996) “lethal mutations” are abundant because of teachers’ focus on how to do the procedures of Reciprocal Teaching and lack of understanding of the learning principles upon which the method is based. This investigation reports conceptual growth and the misinterpretations of the procedures and learning principles that two Schools for Thought teachers held as they developed their understanding across training sessions. We claim that studying the development of teacher thinking can be particularly useful to those revamping teacher education programs.