Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-92).

This experimental study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of multicomponent reading intervention and a no treatment comparison condition on the reading comprehension of adolescent students with adequate word reading and low reading comprehension. The sample consisted of 44 students in 9th grade who were randomly assigned to an intervention treatment offered as an elective course (N=25) or a no treatment comparison (N=19). Reading intervention teachers, trained by experienced research staff provided instruction for 90-min sessions two to three times per week during for approximately 80 sessions. Treatment effects for each outcome measure were estimated using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results indicate no statistically significant differences between conditions. Effects, which were calculated with partial eta squared (η2), ranged from -.26 to .23 with two of the three measures favoring the treatment condition. Three separate repeated measure of analysis of variance (RM-ANCOVAs) were conducted using the Kaufmann Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT) as a covariate for the following measures: (1) Woodcock Johnson Passage Comprehension subtest (WJIII-PC); (2) Test of Sentence Reading Efficiency (TOSRE); (3) Gates MacGinitie Reading test (GM-RT). An additional ANCOVA was conducted for the GM-RT using the pretest scores from the GM-RT as a covariate. Results indicate that the treatment condition was not favorable to a no treatment comparison for students with adequate word reading and low comprehension. More research into ways to make reading comprehension instruction more effective for Adolescent students with low reading comprehension is warranted. / text

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This study was undertaken to gain a greater understanding of what readers do to comprehend expository and narrative text. Specifically, 24 randomly selected good tenth grade readers used various strategies to comprehend both an expository and narrative selection. The selections assigned to them were from a group of 12 earth science and 12 short story selections, both groups randomly selected, presented in units of the following sequence and length: 400-, 250-, 100-words, and 10-sentence lengths. Students read silently and their "thinking aloud" in regard to their silent reading provided the basis for strategy identification and for the development of a strategy classification system which included four major categories of print-oriented, explicit and implicit message-oriented, and integrative-evaluative strategies. Descriptive and statistical comparisons among strategies were analyzed in terms of these four major categories. These comparisons offered strong evidence that readers used a variety of strategies within and across text types, since strategy use was investigated in relation to multiple texts. Differences were noted, however, in the frequency and proportion of strategies used between the two text types. For instance, readers used a greater frequency and proportion of strategies in reading narrative compared to expository text. Statistical significance at the .01 level was also shown for frequency and proportion of implicit message-oriented strategies used in reading narrative compared to expository text. Differences were detected in frequency and proportion of strategies used in relation to the length of unit read. Predominant patterns of individual reader's strategy use were noted for each of the text types and for the text types combined. Results of this study suggest several implications for further research. First, a study of the effect of other differing types of text on readers' strategy use is needed to clarify and specify readers' strategy use in comprehension. Secondly, a comparison of strategy use of good with poor readers in regard to differing types of text is required to identify strategies used by different types of readers. Thirdly, an investigation into the developmental aspects of readers' strategy use in regard to differing types of text needed to provide insights into the ways in which strategy use is acquired and modified. Fourthly, a comparison of readers' strategy use in regard to text presented in varying lengths is needed to better explain the relationship between reader comprehension and length of text read.

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The Simple View of Reading (SVR; Gough & Tunmer, 1986) provides a conceptual framework for describing the processes involved when readers comprehend text and strong evidence for the SVR comes from factor analytic studies showing dissociation between decoding and comprehension skills. The aim of the present study was to investigate if pre-decoding and comprehension components exist in Canadian English-speaking pre-readers (n = 36) with the use of Principal Components Analysis and to create a parent literacy questionnaire that contains parent literacy practices that may predict children's pre-decoding and comprehension skills. All children were administered a battery of pre-reading measures and parents completed a literacy survey. Principal Components Analysis demonstrated that listening comprehension and pre-decoding measures loaded as distinct components. The findings provide support for the SVR framework. No clear patterns were identified between parent literacy practices and children's pre-reading skills. Further work is needed with a larger and more representative sample.

An important question in the field of reading development is whether models of reading, which apply largely to monolingual English (L1) learners, also apply to English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. The pursuit of such an inquiry is critical to the development of empirically valid models of reading in ESL populations. This study investigated the nature and determinants of the developmental pathways of reading comprehension in ESL (N=153) and L1 learners (N=593) from the fourth to the seventh grade. Two research questions guided the research: (1) How similar are ESL learners to L1 learners in their reading comprehension growth trajectories? (2) How similar are ESL learners to L1 learners in the determinants of their reading comprehension growth trajectories? The following basic processes of reading comprehension were examined: phonological awareness, pseudoword decoding, word identification, reading fluency, and syntactic awareness. Using latent growth modeling, the study found that ESL learners were identical to L1 learners in the functional form (both showed linear growth), slope or rate of growth, intra-individual variability, and linguistic determinants, of their reading comprehension growth trajectories. However, they were weaker than L1 learners in their reading comprehension skill levels. These results provide compelling support for the applicability of L1 models of reading comprehension for ESL learners, and help shape an emergent conceptualization of reading comprehension development for ESL learners.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test materials for training prospective teachers in appropriate questioning strategy in teaching reading. The intent wasto enhance teacher skill in phrasing comprehension questions that promote children's critical reading behaviors. ProceduresInstructional and evaluative materials and a question classification system were developed based upon a review of literature relative to reading comprehension and instructional questioning. The classification system, titled ASK:Q Comprehension Categories, contained six categories. Vocabulary-Experiential, Literal, and Transformational constituted the Non-Critical categories. The Critical Reading categories included the Inferential, Evaluative, and Creative categories.The instructional material, titled TASK:QS, consisted of a series of four lesson booklets. The acronym was derived from: Teaching for Acquisition of Skill and Knowledge in Questioning Strategy. The booklets were designed to be used by groups of four or five college students in a reading methods class. Each lesson was intended to be self- or group-instructional and required the major portion of a class period. The evaluative material, ASK:Q, consisted of preand post-test forms, each containing three reading selections for which comprehension questions were to be written. The acronym was derived from Assessing Skill and Knowledge in Questioning. ASK:Q was subjected to analysis for validity and rater-reliability.Early in the quarter ASK:Q-1 (pre-test) was administered to students in two sections of a reading methods course at Ball State University to assess the question-phrasing status of the participants. Both sections were taught by the same instructor. Students in one section (control group) experienced the conventional course content. Students in the other section (experimental group) experienced the same course content. In addition, the experimental group used one TASK:QS lesson each week during the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth weeks of the quarter. ASK:Q-2 (post-test) was administered to students in both sections at the conclusion of the study to record any changes in question-phrasing ability.Questions written in response to ASK:Q-1 and ASK:Q-2 were scored in terms of assignment to the ASK:Q Comprehension Categories. Analysis of covariance was applied to pre-test and post-test scores. The corresponding F-values were used to determine the significance of changes in questioning strategy. Analysis focused upon changes in total number of Critical Reading questions and changes in the number of questions written in each comprehension category.ConclusionsWhile both groups evidenced gains, the experimental group wrote significantly more Critical Reading questions. Because of the small number of questions, the VocabularyExperiential category was not subjected to analysis. Changes reached statistical significance for only the Literal and Creative categories, the experimental group evidenced improved questioning strategy with respect to increased or decreased use of each of the categories analyzed. Based on statistical evidence it may be concluded that exposure to the instructional materials had only a limited effect upon enhancing the use of questions in specific comprehension categories. Results tend to indicate that questioning strategy may be influenced more effectively with respect to the total Critical Reading category rather than in terms of specific comprehension categories. It would appear that TASK:QS materials provide an effective means for enhancing teachers' skill in phrasing appropriate reading comprehension questions.The present study provided evidence that improvements can be effected in pre-service teachers' reading comprehension questioning. Results of the study also indicated that questioning strategy may be enhanced within the format of a reading methods course. It would appear appropriate to provide experiences similar to TASK:QS for prospective teachers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of prestated purposes on the silent reading comprehension of good and poor readers using an informal reading inventory. This study was conducted using 38 third grades and 38 fourth graders from a rural school in east central Indiana. These subjects were designated as good or poor readers by performance on the Metropolitan Achievement Test, Reading subtest. Each subject scored an intelligence quotient of 85 or above on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Ten good readers and nine poor readers from the third and fourth grades, respectively, were randomly assigned the purpose treatment; and ten good readers and nine poor readers from each grade, respectively, were randomly assigned the nonpurpose treatment.The purpose treatment consisted of giving the oral prestated purpose labeled "examiners introduction" in the Analytical Reading Inventory. The nonpurpose treatment consisted of no prestated purpose prior to the silent reading of the passages.Each subject was administered the Analytical Reading Inventory. Procedures for administration recommended in the Analytical Reading Inventory were followed. A silent reading comprehension score was obtained by adding the total number of questions correct between and including the independent and frustration reading levels.Four null hypotheses were tested using a fully crossed 2x2x2 design with all factors fixed. The Bonferroni t-test 95 percent confidence interval procedure was applied in analyzing the silent reading comprehension scores. No significant differences were found on any of the four hypotheses.The major conclusion drawn from the results of the analysis was that prestated purposes do not appear to aid or hinder the silent reading comprehension of good or poor third and fourth grade readers. The results of this study would appear to indicate that the use of prestated purposes on an informal reading inventory are of little consequence to the total silent reading comprehension score. Therefore, consideration needs to be given as to whether or not to use prestated purposes when administering an informal reading inventory in a diagnostic testing situation. This consideration may be no more than to leave the use of prestated purposes to the discretion of the examiner.

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of two types of advance organizers on the comprehension of fourth grade students. The students' reading achievement levels were identified, and prior knowledge of the topics presented in the passages was assessed.Six intact classes were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. The first group was given a prose organizer before reading each of the passages; the second group received a discussion organizer; and the third group participated in both types of organizers. All of the activities were presented by the regular classroom teachers.The appropriate treatment and a selected passage were given to each group on the same day. On the following day, the subjects were asked to complete a cloze test constructed from selected portions of the passage. This procedure was repeated four times.A three factor analysis of covariance with repeated measurement of the four posttests was used to analyze the data. Reading achievement was used as the covariate in the analysis. Subjects were classified as to treatment group and high or low prior knowledge. Results indicated that the composite posttest means of the groups differed significantly. There was, however, no interaction between treatment and prior knowledge or between treatment and repeated presentations.The Student-Newman-Keuls procedure was applied post-hoc to test the difference among the means. The treatment group receiving only the prose organizer differed from the other two groups with lower passage comprehension. It was concluded that the discussion organizer alone or with a prose organizer facilitated better passage comprehension. / Department of Elementary Education