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Literature supporting the use of informational texts with preschool children has increased in recent years. However, many preschool classrooms still focus on narrative text, and teachers are often unsure how to provide support for children's comprehension of informational texts. An assessment addressing preschool children's informational text comprehension will help teachers understand what children can do with informational texts and point out demands or tasks that children should be able to handle. A comprehension assessment for preschool children focusing on text purpose, text features, text retell, and comprehension of text structures has not been available. To fit this need, recent effort has focused on developing The Early Expository Text Comprehension Assessment (EECA), which previous studies have found to be reliable and valid. However, the latest iteration, developed in 2016, identified multiple problematic items based on a many-facets Rasch analysis, and problems with administrator consistency were noted. To further develop the EECA, changes were made to problematic items and the assessment was fully digitized. This pilot study tested a beta version of the next iteration of the EECA on twelve participants at the BYU preschool to identify additional changes that could be made before submitting the revised assessment to a more comprehensive full-scale study for analysis of reliability and validity. Results identified additional changes to apply to the assessment including suggestions for improving child engagement and responsiveness to the digitized format, administrator prompts, technical errors with the assessment program, and improvements to individual test items.

Many have argued for more informational text to be incorporated into the curriculum, even in the earliest grades. However, it has traditionally been thought that narrative text should precede informational text when introducing children to literacy. Still several studies have demonstrated that preschool children are capable of learning from these texts. Because informational texts are being introduced even in the earliest grades, preschool teachers are in need of ways to assess their students' ability to handle early forms of informational texts. The Early Expository Text Comprehension Assessment (EECA) was developed to help teachers understand the comprehension abilities of their preschool children across several informational text structures. As part of a larger study, the third iteration of this assessment measure, called the EECA-R3, was examined for concurrent validity with the Test of Story Comprehension (TSC), a subtest of the Narrative Language Measure (NLM). Data came from 108 preschool children between the ages of four and five who were attending one of six title one preschools or one of four private preschool classrooms. Correlations that were run between the TSC and the EECA-R3 to determine concurrent validity were positive and significant, suggesting that the EECA-R3 is valid.

This single-case study compared the effects of a typical practice baseline phase to those of a treatment phase. Seven students with learning disabilities (LD) in Grades 4 and 5 participated in the two-school-site study. Each student had basic word-reading proficiency and a distinct deficit in comprehension. Baseline lessons consisted of text reading with corrective feedback, a text-based summary with corrective feedback, and a daily quiz. In treatment, students read text with corrective feedback, used a graphic organizer to study and teach the content to the instructor, and completed a daily quiz. The baseline and treatment lessons were influenced by direct, systematic, and explicit instruction. Analysis indicates that an experimental effect was present for all students when the daily quiz results for baseline and treatment phases are compared. Percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) results were 100% for five students, which is characterized as a highly effective treatment according to single-case standards. Two students had minimal overlap between baseline and treatment, but their scores indicate that the treatment was effective at improving informational text learning. On a cumulative pre/post social studies test, students at School A improved from 26% to 56%, and at School B, students scored 28% on pretest and 81% on posttest. Results indicate that treatment components that were previously effective for students with LD in secondary school are promising for enhancing informational text learning for students in upper elementary school. A social validity questionnaire indicated that students perceived graphic organizers as an efficacious practice for improving learning potential. / text

This study evaluated the effect of an explicit comprehension read-aloud routine of science content on first grade students’ listening comprehension.The read-aloud routine taught the structures common in the informational text (compare, contrast, and compare-contrast) and found in first grade science big books with the goal of improving understanding of the science content. Students who received the intervention showed improvements in their ability to understand the compare-contrast text structures compared to students who were taught the same content without the routine or students who were taught typical science read-aloud content without the routine. Observations revealed that teachers who were most consistent in implementing high quality comprehension strategies during the read aloud had students who made the best gains in listening comprehension of the content, regardless of whether the teachers used explicit text the compare-contrast text structure routine.The results demonstrated that even though the instruction of the compare-contrast text structures was not necessary to produce listening comprehension of science content, the compare-contrast instruction added value to the high quality comprehension instruction for students assigned to the intervention group. The results of the study are discussed in terms of the available research on instruction of informational text structures in the early grades. Recommendations for future research are provided.

This study investigated the use of explicit revision instruction and digital writing during writing workshop with 21 students in a mainstream second-grade classroom. The pedagogical goal guiding this study was to improve revisions in informational writing and overall writing quality. Students’ informational writing quality scores significantly improved from pre-to post-assessment. Throughout the intervention, collected data included tallies of the types and amount of revision in student writing samples, the overall quality of student informational writing prior to and after revision, and teacher journal entries. Students were able to revise their informational writing independently. Students’ informational writing scores were higher post-revision, with the addition of words correlating with higher scores. The sample size was insufficient to determine the relationship between the number or type of revisions and increased writing scores. The intervention implemented in this study provided students with instruction that enabled them to utilize revision independently to improve the overall quality of their informational writing. The digital application lent itself to easier manipulation of the text, encouraging students to revise. Findings from this study revealed that students’ informational writing moved from below grade-level competency to at or above grade-level competency in three iterations across 6 weeks.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an immersive argument based learning environment on students’ multimodal competencies. The objective was to study the impact on students learning as they engage in an ABI classroom, centered on the SWH approach, when compared to students in traditional classrooms. Summary writing samples were collected and coded for informational text features which allowed us to understand cohesion with the learners. Additionally, we were able to study these impacts longitudinally, measuring teacher experience and student exposure to this learning environment. Studies of this nature have been done but only with upper grades, never had it been done with early learners, kindergarten through second grade. These summary writing samples were collected and analyzed in two different groups, the first containing 601 samples and the second 760 samples. A factor analysis was performed to examine the internal structure of the features, resulting in the creation of 3 factors: illustrations, text signals and organizers, and graphics. This allowed us to measure acceleration of the learners multimodal skills and the cohesion related to experience, both of classroom and teacher experience. The results of this study have shown that we are able to significantly impact students rate of usage of informational text features by altering the learning environment. We are able to demonstrate significant rates of growth in usage of higher order skills and cohesion amongst science concepts. This is important as we look to find ways to close achievement gaps, increase interest in science, and help students become more effective learners. The results show great promise for immersive ABI as a means to engage young learners in rigorous, valuable learning experiences.

The purpose of this action research study was to explore the use of informational text in kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms in one elementary school. The research was based on analyzing responses given by teachers on a self-report survey; which addressed various aspects of their use of informational texts. The survey included questions about the sources teachers used to find informational texts, the criteria used in selection of such texts, and the frequency and purposes for informational text use. These data were then compared according to teachers' years of teaching experience and grade level taught to see the influence of such groupings. Findings indicated that teachers tend to use the sources for informational texts that are most readily available within a school. Further, findings indicated that not all teachers use the same selection criteria for picking informational texts to use in their classrooms and teachers value different criteria for selection of such texts. Next, frequency of use of informational texts varied from teacher to teacher, with some teachers using informational texts often and some using informational texts very little. The use of such texts was almost always tied to specific content, but the purposes for use of informational texts varied from teacher to teacher, with some teachers being very specific in their purpose, to others being very vague about their purpose for the use of such texts. Finally, findings show that there were differences in the ways teachers in two grade-level groups selected and used informational texts.

In an inner-city elementary school, students continue to lag in reading proficiency, and implementation of research-based, district-mandated teaching strategies is not well understood. The purpose of this case study was to explore teachers' perceptions of mandated, read-aloud expository text strategies in K-2 classrooms. The conceptual framework was Vygotsky's social constructivism model of learning, which envisions students learning by interacting with teachers and peers, in this case, using read-aloud strategies, until they become autonomous, expository readers. The research questions focused on benefits and challenges of the implementation of read-aloud expository text by K-2 teachers who were given a 5-year mandate by the school to use strategies of scaffolding, graphic organizers, think-alouds, and text talk. Data were gathered from 5 teachers who volunteered to participate and were trained in the strategies. Data collection included individual interviews, collaborating interviews, reflective journals, and field notes. Open coding and thematic analysis identified 6 themes of teacher perceptions, including benefits, situational strategies, and explanations for use, challenges, support, and implementation. Throughout the data collection process, teachers suggested the use of Text Talk Kit materials. These kits, in use by other districts, may be beneficial to all teachers and may lead to social change by allowing teachers to access materials to better instruct all struggling readers, a benefit across all curricular areas and for all students.

In an inner-city elementary school, students continue to lag in reading proficiency, and implementation of research-based, district-mandated teaching strategies is not well understood. The purpose of this case study was to explore teachers' perceptions of mandated, read-aloud expository text strategies in K-2 classrooms. The conceptual framework was Vygotsky's social constructivism model of learning, which envisions students learning by interacting with teachers and peers, in this case, using read-aloud strategies, until they become autonomous, expository readers. The research questions focused on benefits and challenges of the implementation of read-aloud expository text by K-2 teachers who were given a 5-year mandate by the school to use strategies of scaffolding, graphic organizers, think-alouds, and text talk. Data were gathered from 5 teachers who volunteered to participate and were trained in the strategies. Data collection included individual interviews, collaborating interviews, reflective journals, and field notes. Open coding and thematic analysis identified 6 themes of teacher perceptions, including benefits, situational strategies, and explanations for use, challenges, support, and implementation. Throughout the data collection process, teachers suggested the use of Text Talk Kit materials. These kits, in use by other districts, may be beneficial to all teachers and may lead to social change by allowing teachers to access materials to better instruct all struggling readers, a benefit across all curricular areas and for all students.