ComprehensionPresentation for the Iowa Department of Education

Des Moines, IA, October, 2002

Nell K. Duke

Michigan State University

Two papers that summarize much of the research discussed in this talk, and provide references to other summaries:

Duke, N. K., & Pearson, P. D. (2002). Effective practices for developing reading comprehension. In A. E. Farstrup & S. J. Samuels (Eds.), What research has to say about reading instruction (3rd edition) (pp. 205-242). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Pearson, P. D., & Duke, N. K. (2002). Comprehension instruction in the primary grades. In C. C. Block & G. M. Pressley (Eds.), Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices (pp. 247-258). New York: Guilford Press.

Plan for Presentation

• Some background about research on Some background about research on comprehensioncomprehension

• Five components of effective Five components of effective comprehension instructioncomprehension instruction

• Some questions that might arise about Some questions that might arise about comprehension instruction grades K - 2comprehension instruction grades K - 2

• The case of informational text The case of informational text comprehensioncomprehension

Some Background About Some Background About Research on ComprehensionResearch on Comprehension

Research on explicit teaching of comprehension strategies: The comprehension revolution 1970 - 1990

• New intellectual tools (psycholinguistics, cognitive science, etc.)

• An increasing recognition that there was something more to reading than decoding

• A growing body of research demonstrating – what good readers do when they read– comprehension strategies worth teaching – effective approaches to comprehension strategy

instruction

Research on environments that support understanding of text: 1990 -->

• Popular intellectual tools (discourse analysis, descriptive research, etc.)

• An increasing recognition that there was something more to reading than either decoding or comprehending

• A growing body of research on things such as– Motivation to read– Talk about text– Writing– Exposure and Access– Relationships between comprehension, word recognition, and fluency

Why hasn’t much of this research made its way into practice?

• The usual suspects. . .

• The overall climate. . .• It is hard!

No, it really hasn’t. . . • Durkin’s embarrassing little study (1978) - Some 4,000 minutes of classroom observation- 11 minutes devoted to comprehension instruction- Lots of testing and lots of questioning during discussion• Pressley et al. and Taylor et al. work of today( )

Five Components of Effective Five Components of Effective Comprehension InstructionComprehension Instruction

1. A clear vision of effective comprehension

2. Appropriate attention to underlying skills and dispositions

3. Many opportunities to read and be read to (and for compelling reasons)

4. Lots of talk, writing, and thinking about text

5. Explicit instruction in comprehension strategies

1. A Clear Vision of Effective Comprehension

This can draw on:

Research and theory, for example related to what good readers do when they read

National, state, and local priorities, for example as articulated in standards documents

What Good Readers Do When They Read:

Good readers are active readers. From the outset they have clear goals in mind for their

reading. They constantly evaluate whether the text, and their reading of it, is meeting their goals.

Good readers typically look over the text before they read, noting such things as the structure of the text and text sections that might be most relevant to their reading goals.

As they read, good readers frequently make predictions about what is to come.

They read selectively, continually making decisions about their reading--what to read carefully, what to read quickly, what not to read, what to re-read, and so on.

Good readers construct, revise, and question the meanings they make as they read.

They draw upon, compare, and integrate their prior knowledge with material in the text.

They think about the authors of the text, their style, beliefs, intentions, historical milieu, and so on.

They monitor their understanding of the text, making adjustments in their reading as necessary.

Good readers try to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and concepts in the text, and they deal with inconsistencies or gaps as needed.

They evaluate the text’s quality and value, and react to the text in a range of ways, both intellectually and emotionally.

Good readers read different kinds of text differently. When reading narrative, good readers attend closely to

the setting and characters; when reading expository text these readers frequently

construct and revise summaries of what they have read.

For good readers, text processing occurs not only during ‘reading’ as we have traditionally defined it, but also during short breaks taken during reading, even after the ‘reading’ itself has commenced, even after the ‘reading’ has ceased.

Comprehension is a consuming, continuous, and complex activity, but one that, for good readers, is both satisfying and productive.

Some of My Priorities, Drawn from Various Standards Documents:

• Read for a variety of purposes

• Use text location, reading and responding strategies appropriate for those texts and purposes

• Construct defensible literal and inferential understandings of the text

• Juxtapose the text with one’s own thoughts and experiences, and with other texts

• Consider the author, agenda, and milieu of the text

• Actually use comprehension of the text for one’s purposes

2. Appropriate Attention to Underlying Skills and Dispositions

• Concepts of print

• Intentional/functional knowledge

• Phonemic Awareness *

• Word recognition and decoding *

• Reading fluency *

• Vocabulary *

• Active and reflective learning stance

• Engagement in reading and learning

* A component in the NRP Report

3. Many Opportunities to Read

and Be Read To

ReadingReading

Vocabulary World

Knowledge Textual Knowledg

e

Vocabulary World

Knowledge Textual Knowledg

e

4. Lots of Talk, Writing, and Thinking About Text

• Questions and questioning (teacher and student)

• Text discussion

• Think-alouds (teacher and student)

• Writing in response to reading

• Writing like a reader, reading like a writer

• Engaging and sustaining texts

More about Text DiscussionThere are many forms of text discussion, some of

which have been evaluated by research, others of which have not. Here’s one that has:

Instructional Conversations (Goldenberg 1992/1993; Saunders & Goldenberg, 1999)

Instructional Elements:

1. Thematic focus

2. Activation and use of relevant background schemata

3. Direct teaching

4. Promotion of more complex language and expression

5. Elicitation of bases for student statements or positions

Conversational Elements:

6. Fewer “known-answer” questions

7. Responsivity to student contributions

8. Connected discourse

9. A challenging, but nonthreatening, atmosphere

10. General participation, including self-selected turns

5. Explicit Instruction in Comprehension Strategies!!!

Some key strategies:• Monitoring and adjusting as needed• Generating questions or thinking aloud• Attending to and uncovering text structure• Connecting background knowledge & predicting• Drawing inferences• Constructing visual representations• Summarizing

A key instructional construct:T

each

er R

esp

onsi

bil

ity

100

00

100Student Responsibility

With any luck, we move this way (----->) over time.But we are always prepared to slide up and down the diagonal.

Gradual Release of Responsibility

Some approaches to teaching multiple

strategies simultaneously: • Reciprocal Teaching (Palincsar & Brown, 1986)

• Collaborative Strategic Reading (Klinger and Vaughn, 1999)

• Students Achieving Independent Learning (SAIL) (Pressley et al., 1994)

• (There are others -- see for example Anderson, 1992; Block, 1991; Paris, Cross, & Lipson, 1984; Duffy, Roehler, Sivan, et al. 1987.)

More about One Approach to Teaching Multiple

Strategies Simultaneously Collaborative Strategic Reading (Klinger and Vaughn, 1999)

• Students work in small, cooperative groups

• Students apply four comprehension strategies:– Preview (think about what they already know, predict what

the passage might be about)

– “Click and clunk” (monitor comprehension, use fix-up strategies as needed)

– Get the gist (glean and restate the most important idea)

– Wrap up (summarize, ask questions)

• Students have specific roles: leader, clunk expert, gist expert, announcer, encourager

• Cue cards may used to support students in small, cooperative groups– E.g., a clunk card that says: “Reread the sentences before and

after the clunk looking for cues.”

– E.g., a student leader cue card that says: “Did everyone understand what we read? If you did not, write your clunks in your learning log.”

• Students complete learning logs before and after reading

Some Questions that Might Arise about Some Questions that Might Arise about Comprehension Instruction Grades K - 2Comprehension Instruction Grades K - 2

• Does this research really apply to grades K - 2?

• Shouldn’t children get a firm grounding in decoding first?

• Shouldn’t we focus on comprehension of stories?

Q: Does this research really apply to grades K - 2?

A: Yes! Although there is considerably less research available at these grade levels, the research we do have supports the same conclusions:- Comprehension improves when teachers provide

explicit instruction in the use of comprehension strategies

- Comprehension improves when teachers design and implement activities that support the understanding of the texts students read in their classes

Q: Shouldn’t children get a firm grounding in decoding first?

A: Yes and no: Yes, they should get a firm grounding in decoding. No, it needn’t be first (nor should it be second) -- these things can and from what we can glean from relevant data should happen simultaneously. - Recent national syntheses of research on early literacy:- Preventing Reading Difficulties (1998) - National Reading Panel Report (2000)- Morrow, Tracey, Woo, & Pressley (1999) study:

exemplary first-grade teachers - Taylor, Pearson, Clark, & Walpole (2000) study:

‘Schools that Beat the Odds’

Q: Shouldn’t we focus on comprehension of stories?

A: No! Research does not support the learn-to-read then read-to-learn sequence

Duke, N. K., Bennett-Armistead, V. S., & Roberts, E. M. (2002). Incorporating informational text in the primary grades. In C. Roller (Ed.), Comprehensive reading instruction across the grade levels (pp. 40-54). Newark, DE:

International Reading Association.

- Young children can learn from informational text (e.g., Duke & Kays, 1998; Moss, 1993)

- Young children can respond to informational text in sophisticated ways (e.g., Donovan, 1996; Oyler & Barry, 1996)

- Young children can conduct research using informational text (e.g., Korkeamaki, Tianen, & Dreher, 1998)

- At least some young children prefer informational text (Kletzien & Szabo, 1998)

- There seems to be no harm, and some benefit, of significant exposure to informational text in grade one (Duke, in progress: preliminary results)

The Case of Informational Text The Case of Informational Text ComprehensionComprehension

• American students have particular difficulty comprehending (and writing) informational text.

• Low-income and minority students are particularly likely to struggle.

• Some have attributed the “fourth grade slump” to difficulties comprehending informational text.

• Lower achievement in science may also be linked to difficulties with informational text.

• Nearly 44 million adults cannot extract information from text in many circumstances.

The Importance of Informational Reading Comprehension

• We live in the “information age.”

• Approximately 96% of the sites on the World Wide Web are expository in form.

• The majority of reading and writing adults do is non-fiction, much of it informational.

• Academic achievement in a wide range of subjects depends in part on ability to read and write informational text.

Some Often-Overlooked Benefits of Informational Text

• Informational text can be entertaining.

• Some students actually prefer reading and writing informational text.

• Informational text can help answer questions and solve problems; informational text can raise questions and pose problems.

• Informational text can build and also build upon background knowledge.

• Informational text can have productive roles throughout the curriculum.

One study that illustrates some points made in the previous slide:

Peter

Space

Animals

Machines

Oceans

(e.g., Sea Otters Come Home, Look Out For Pirates)

Isaac

Volcanoes

Samurai

Planets

How-to-Science Experiments

(e.g., “Mystery Minerals”)

Caswell, L. J., & Duke, N. K. (1998). Non-narrative as a catalyst for literacy development. Language Arts, 75, 108-117.

Some topics of interest to Peter and Isaac:

Another study that illustrates some points made in that slide:

• S. Charles Bean,Neurologist

• Hannah Adams,Teacher

• William Brewer,Psychologist

• Jane Smith,Anthropologist

• Tania Baker,Biochemist

• Laura Brody,Cookbook author etc.

• Stacy Harris,Attorney at law

• Heriberto Cresto,Social worker

Fink, R. P. (1995/1996). Successful dyslexics: A constructivist study of passionate interest reading. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 38, 268-280.

Some professionally successful men and women with dyslexia:

What Can We Do To Improve Informational Text Comprehension?

• Increase access to informational text

• Increase instructional time with informational text

• Increase explicit teaching of comprehension strategies, along with lots of opportunities for guided and independent practice

• Increase attention to the unique and the especially challenging characteristics of informational text

• Ensure that informational text is used for authentic purposes as much as possible

Increase Access to Informational Text

For some support for the importance of access to print in general, see for example:

• Position statements: for example IRA statement Making a Difference Means Making it Different and IRA/NAEYC statement Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for young children

• Research: for example Access for all: Closing the book gap for children in early education (Neuman, Celano, Greco, Shue, 2001)

Informational Text Available to First Grade Students in Classroom Libraries, First Visits

High-SES Districts Low-SES Districts

(from Duke, 2000)

High-SES Districts Low-SES Districts

Informational Text Available to First Grade Students in Classroom Libraries, Subsequent Visits

(from Duke, 2000)

Informational Text on First Grade Classroom Walls and Other Surfaces

(from D

uke, 2000)

Increase Instructional Time withInformational Text

• The importance of instructional time may become more apparent later in this talk.

• What makes me say instructional time is scarce?

– Data from analyses of basal reading series (e.g., Hoffman et al., 1994; Moss & Newton, 1998).

– Data from teacher surveys (e.g., Pressley, Rankin, Yokoi, 1996; Yopp & Yopp, 2000).

– Data from classroom observation (e.g., Duke, 2000; Kamberelis, 1998).

Informational Text in First Grade Written Language Activities

(from D

uke, 2000)

Increase Explicit Teaching of Comprehension Strategies

This is a critical component of improving comprehension of

informational text!

Increase Attention to the Unique and the Especially Challenging Characteristics of

Informational TextIncluding:

• Navigational devices to enable nonlinear and selective reading

• Need for skills such as skimming and scanning

• Graphical devices to convey information

• Particular kinds of language and text structures

• Technical and specialized vocabulary

• Epistemological issues

• Locating the texts in the first place

Ensure that Informational Text is Used for Authentic Purposes

• For pleasure

• To pass the time

• To increase general knowledge

• To find out something you want or need to know

• And for writing: To convey information from someone who knows it to someone who does not, yet wants or needs to do so

Authentic Literacy Events

• Authentic literacy events are those that replicate or reflect reading and writing purposes and texts, specific to the genre, that occur in the world outside of a schooling context.

(Purcell-Gates & Duke, 2001)

A Bit about Concept-Oriented Reading

Instruction (CORI) (Guthrie & Wigfield) *

• Centers on a conceptual theme

• Engages students in real-world interactions

• Uses interesting, often student-selected texts

• Supports student autonomy

• Includes strategy instruction

• Involves collaboration

• Evaluation focuses on conceptual goals, learning goals that service conceptual goals, and engagement

* Has been evaluated by research. See for example: Guthrie, J. T., Van Meter, P., McCann, A. D., Wigfield, A., Bennett, L., Poundstone, C. C., Rice, M. E., Faibisch, F. M., Hunt, B., Mitchell, A. M. (1996). Growth of literacy engagement: Changes in motivations and strategies during concept-oriented reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 31, 306-332.

Five Components of Effective Comprehension Instruction

1. A clear vision of effective comprehension

2. Appropriate attention to underlying skills and dispositions

3. Many opportunities to read and be read to (and for compelling reasons)

4. Lots of talk, writing, and thinking about text

5. Explicit instruction in comprehension strategies