Promoting Adolescents’ Comprehension of Text

Overview

MCPER has partnered with the University of Houston, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Texas A&M University, and Florida State University to improve the reading comprehension of students in grades 7 through 12.

The focused program of research of the project, Promoting Adolescents’ Comprehension of Text (PACT), is designed to answer key questions about the role of cognitive processes, motivation, engagement, and components of interventions to improve reading comprehension. During 5 years, the project will conduct a series of integrated research studies with the following overarching aims:

  • Improve the knowledge of cognitive processes associated with reading comprehension to identify malleable processes that may be targets for intervention
  • Provide knowledge about the role of engagement and motivation in enhancing reading comprehension outcomes
  • Integrate and apply the findings from these studies and the empirical bases to develop and test the efficacy of interventions for students with reading comprehension difficulties in grades 7 through 12

Scope of Work

Lessons and Support Materials

Social Studies Lessons, 11th Grade

Social Studies Videos

Social Studies Podcasts

English Language Arts Intervention

Inference Instruction to Support Reading Comprehension

Striving for Oral Language Achievement in Reading

Outcomes

In a Single Study Review of Improving Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Knowledge in Middle School (linked below), the WWC found that the study “meets WWC evidence standards without reservation,” adding that it is a “well-implemented randomized controlled trial.”

Participants

​Students with and without reading comprehension difficulties in grades 7 through 12

Related Findings

Cost-Effectiveness of a Grade 8 Intensive Reading and Content Learning Intervention

Examining the Role of Pre-Instruction Academic Performance Within a Text-Based Approach to Improving Student Content Knowledge and Understanding

Causal Mediation in Educational Intervention Studies

Text Reading Supports in Social Studies Content Instruction and Their Relationship to Student Knowledge Acquisition

Class Percentage of Students With Reading Difficulties on Content Knowledge and Comprehension

Improving Reading and Social Studies Learning for Secondary Students With Reading Disabilities

Middle School Reading Comprehension and Content Learning Intervention for Below-Average Readers

Common Themes in Teaching Reading for Understanding: Lessons From Three Projects

A Century of Progress: Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4–12, 1914–2014

Student Perceptions of Instruction in Middle and Secondary U.S. History Classes

Improving Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Knowledge Among Middle School Students With Disabilities

The Effects of Team-Based Learning on Social Studies Knowledge Acquisition in High School

Special Education Research Advances Knowledge in Education

Implementing Team-Based Learning in Middle School Social Studies Classes

Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text in High School Social Studies Classes

Literacy and Text Reading in Middle and High School Social Studies and English Language Arts Classrooms

Instructional Engineering Principles to Frame the Future of Reading Intervention Research and Practice

Integrating Content Knowledge-Building and Student-Regulated Comprehension Practices in Secondary English Language Arts Classes

Improving Middle-School Students’ Knowledge and Comprehension in Social Studies: A Replication

Adolescents’ Motivation for Reading: Group Differences and Relation to Standardized Achievement

Meta-Analysis With Complex Research Designs: Dealing With Dependence From Multiple Measures and Multiple Group Comparisons

Adolescents' Use of Reading Comprehension Strategies: Differences Related to Reading Proficiency, Grade Level, and Gender

Research-Based Reading Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities

Team-Based Learning: Moderating Effects of Metacognitive Elaborative Rehearsal and Middle School History Content Recall

Team-Based Learning for Students With High-Incidence Disabilities in High School Social Studies Classrooms

The Contribution of Attentional Control and Working Memory to Reading Comprehension and Decoding

The Impact of Intensive Reading Intervention on Level of Attention in Middle School Students

Examining the Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Reading Comprehension Intervention in Middle Schools: A Focus on Treatment Fidelity

Inferential Processing Among Adequate and Struggling Adolescent Comprehenders and Relations to Reading Comprehension

Interpreting Secondary Students’ Performance on a Timed, Multiple-Choice Reading Comprehension Assessment: The Prevalence and Impact of Non-Attempted Items

The Effect of Reading Duration on the Reliability and Validity of Middle School Students’ ORF Performance

Benchmarks for Expected Annual Academic Growth for Students in the Bottom Quartile of the Normative Distribution

The Effects of Student and Text Characteristics on the Oral Reading Fluency of Middle-Grade Students

Effects of Reading Instruction on Learning Outcomes in Social Studies: A Synthesis of Quantitative Research

A Meta-Analysis of Interventions for Struggling Readers in Grades 4–12: 1980–2011

The Effects of Teacher Read-Alouds and Student Silent Reading on Predominantly Bilingual High School Seniors' Learning and Retention of Social Studies Content

A New Look at Mnemonics and Graphic Organizers in the Secondary Social Studies Classroom

Extensive Reading Interventions for Students With Reading Difficulties After Grade 3

Applying Research in Reading Comprehension to Social Studies Instruction for Middle and High School Students

Middle School Social Studies: Using the Text to Improve Reading Comprehension

A Synthesis and Meta-Analysis of Reading Interventions Using Social Studies Content for Students With Learning Disabilities

Improving Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Knowledge in Middle School

Special Education Teachers' Perceptions and Instructional Practices in Response to Intervention Implementation

Collaborative Models of Instruction: The Empirical Foundations of Inclusion and Co-Teaching

High School Dropouts: Interactions Between the Social Context, Self-Perceptions, School Engagement, and Student Dropout

Reliability and Validity of Oral Reading Fluency Median and Mean Scores Among Middle Grade Readers When Using Equated Texts

Intervention Fidelity in Special and General Education Research Journals

Promoting Adolescents’ Comprehension of Text