Reading+Comprehension+Research

**__Reading Research and Artifacts__**   //**Teachers skilled in the wide range of methods for teaching reading must be at the core of all reform efforts directed at improving children’s reading achievement (National Reading Panel, 2000) **//

**In its review, the National ReadingPanel identified 16 categories of __text comprehension instruction__ of which 7 appear to have a solid scientific basis for concluding that these types of instruction improve comprehension in non-impaired readers. Some of these types of instruction are helpful when used alone, but many are more effective when used as part of a multiple-strategy method. The types of instruction are:**
 * **Comprehension monitoring, where readers learn how to be aware of their understanding of the material;**
 * **Cooperative learning, where students learn reading strategies together;**
 * **Use of graphic and semantic organizers (including story maps), where readers make graphic representations of the material to assist comprehension;**
 * **Question answering, where readers answer questions posed by the teacher and receive immediate feedback;**
 * **Question generation, where readers ask themselves questions about various aspects of the story;**
 * **Story structure, where students are taught to use the structure of the story as a means of helping them recall story content in order to answer questions about what they have read; and**
 * **Summarization, where readers are taught to integrate ideas and generalize from the text information.**


 * //__Although children with reading difficulties often struggle with both word decoding and reading comprehension, this is not always the case__: a significant minority of children have deficits in poor decoding despite relatively good levels of reading comprehension (dyslexia), whereas other children show the opposite pattern, having deficits in reading comprehension despite relatively good decoding skills (specific reading comprehension difficulties; e.g., Catts, Adlof, & Weismer,2006; Share & Leikin, 2004; Torppa et al.,2007) //**


 * In general, the evidence suggests that teaching a combination of reading comprehension techniques is the most effective. When students use them appropriately, they assist in recall, question answering, question generation, and summarization of texts. When used in combination, these techniques can improve results in standardized comprehension tests. **

//**__The independence of word decoding and comprehension processes is suggested by intervention studies__. Although robust improvements in word decoding deficits have been demonstrated in many studies, these effects have not always transferred to reading comprehension (e.g., Edmonds et al.,2009; Lovett et al., 1994). This suggests that some components of successful comprehension may not be developed through interventions that focus chiefly on word decoding (Cutting & Scarborough,2006).**//

__**Gene**____**ral Research**__
 * [|National Reading Panel Summary]
 * [|Honoring Children's Rights to Excellent Reading Instruction] (Position Statement of the International Reading Association)

//**The National Reading Panel (2000) pointed to five factors needed for success in early reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.** // // **Garan (2002) noted that the “scientific researchers on the National Reading Panel had vested interests in the outcome of the report both professionally and, unfortunately, financially” (pp. 76–77). These conflicts of interest were confirmed in 2006 by reports from the U.S. Department of Education that provided evidence that Reading First officials violated federal law by subverting the decision-making process involving reading programs (Office of Inspector General, 2006).** // [|How Text Matters] (Relative Effectiveness of Reading Practice or Word-Level Instruction in Supplemental Tutoring : How Text Matters) //** The determination of whole language advocates is no doubt sustained because “people keep noticing the fact that some children or perhaps many children—in any event a subset of children—especially those who grow up in print-rich environments, don’t seem to need much more of a boost in learning to read than to have their questions answered and to point things out to them in the course of dealing with books and **////** various other authentic literacy acts” (Beck, 1996, p. 8). But Beck points out that it is equally true that proponents of the importance of decoding skills are also fueled by personal observation: “People keep noticing the fact that some children or perhaps many children—in **////** any event a subset of children—don’t seem to figure out the alphabetic principle, let alone some of the intricacies involved without having the system directly and systematically presented” (p. 8). **//
 * __Early reading instruction__ **
 * [|Put Reading First] (Research for Kindergarten through Grade 3)
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__**Vocabulary**__

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 * [] Vocabulary Acquisition: Synthesis of Research

__**Reading Fluency**__ //** Fluent reading is made up of at least three key elements: accurate reading of connected text at a conversational rate with appropriate prosody (expression). A fluent reader can maintain this performance for long periods of time, retains the skill after long periods of no practice, and can generalize across texts (Hudson, Lane, & Pullen, 2006, 702). **//

__**Focus on Fluency**__
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 * [|Silent Reading] (Center for Learning and Development - For Students Who Are Not Yet Fluent, Silent Reading Is Not the Best Use of Classroom Time)
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Each part includes a brief introduction, short videoclips of classroom teachers working to build students’ comprehension, questions and activities, Powerpoint slides with research-based content and instructional strategies or approaches for building comprehension. There are articles with more detail about the research and practices presented as well as some websites and professional books for further learning (Nell K. Duke and Julia Reynolds, Michigan State University)
 * __Comprehension__**
 * [|Indiana Reading Summit] (Six video presentations from the Indiana Reading Summit - October, 2009)
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 * **[|Overview of Module on Instructional Strategies - Focus on Comprehension]** -
 * **[|Teacher Resources for Reading Strategies]** (Virginia Department of Education - Reading Strategies Organizational Chart for English SOL Enhanced Scope and Sequence for READING) Reading strategies are linked with Virginia Standards. Each strategy is described in detail with information to implement the strategy in the classroom as well as additional resources.
 * __**[|Effective Practices] **__
 * **__[|Activate Previous Knowledge] __** (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory - Classroom examples included)
 * ** [|ReadWriteThink] **(Search "reading comprehension" for over 150 lesson plans utilizing reading comprehension strategies.)
 * **[|CAFE-Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expand Vocabulary]**
 * **[|Think Alouds]**
 * **[|Reading Comprehension Prompts]** (Prompts that guide students to use general reading strategies)
 * **__[|Reading Next]__** (15 key elements of an effective literacy intervention)
 * FAME
 * __**[|To Read or Not to Read] **__** ( ** r eport by the National Endowment for the Arts collated the best national data available to provide a reliable overview of American reading)

__**Secondary**__ //**The amount of reading of challenging texts (complex, subtle text) within instruction is the best predictor of later academic and work success (Tim Shanahan, 2009)**//
 * **[|Reading Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities]**
 * [|Improving Adolescent Literacy](Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices)
 * __**[|What Does Not Work - ASCD article]**__


 * __ Reading Research __ **
 * [[image:http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQyqqijTgJEuObYOdjxzAh_byc705ssWFVmIapu69aZ6tWOzeY1 align="right"]]
 * Reading Comprehension Research
 * Sustained Silent Reading Research
 * [|Writing and Reading Connection] (Evidence of How Writing Can Improve Reading)
 * [|Brain Research and Reading]

__**DIBELS**__ Although DIBELS is being used in over 13,000 schools in the United States (according to the DIBELS website, https://dibels.uoregon.edu/data/index.php), often as part of the Reading First initiative, there is considerable controversy regarding the utility of the instrument. DIBELS’s developers argue that the widespread use of DIBELS is supported by research, but its critics have suggested that politic
 * [|Truth About DIBELS]
 * [|Using Data to Improve Student Achievement]
 * [|The relation between DIBELS, reading comprehension, and vocabulary in urban first-grade student]


 * [|Effective Teachers of Reading]
 * [|Teaching Literature]
 * [|Teaching Classics with Word Clouds]
 * [|Academic Vocabulary in Middle and High School] (Five essential steps to teaching academic vocabulary (Fisher and Frey); study guides and video podcasts available)
 * [|Indiana Reading Summit](Six video presentations from the Indiana Reading Summit - October, 2009)

__**Direct Instruction**__ //**Direct instruction does not fare so well when one takes the “long view,” over time and transfer to new contexts (Dean& Kuhn, in press**// )

Root Focus is a school-wide program built for developing the vocabulary of the student body. The program focuses on understanding the roots of words, allowing students to make connections with the word parts, helping them to understand new words when they are encountered. One of the most important reasons for increasing vocabulary is the connection between vocabulary and reading comprehension. This program is effective and makes sense, because for a student to understand what (s)he reads, (s)he must understand the words (s)he’s reading.
 * __Root Focus__**

FAME is a reading intervention program designed to help students with low reading ability. FAME stands for **F**oundations of Reading; **A**dventures in Reading; **M**astery of Meaning; **E**xplorations. In its original use, students showed an improvement of one-year grade equivalent per semester of instruction in the program. While Central Catholic does not incorporate the entire program, the use of the program has improves the reading ability of our low-ability readers.
 * __Modified FAME Program__**

Based upon Jeanne Chall's Stages of Reading Development, FAME meets the struggling reader where the reading deficit begins. Identifying the cause of the reading deficit, whether decoding, basic vocabulary, fluency, advanced vocabulary, or comprehension, is a critical first stemp in both diagnosing and remediating reading difficulties. Regularly scheduled pre-tests, post-tests, and conferences with the teacher allow students to see the progress they make. Proven instructional techniques based on best practices are used, including direct instruciton, guided practice, and independent practice

.[|Six Traits Research - 4 articles]
 * __SIX TRAITS WRITING__ **