Reading comprehension strategies /

approach
Very high impact for very low cost based on extensive evidence
Implementation cost
Evidence strength
Impact (months)
What is it?
Reading comprehension strategies focus on the learners’ understanding of
written text. Pupils learn a range of techniques which enable them to
comprehend the meaning of what they read. These can include: inferring
meaning from context; summarising or identifying key points; using
graphic or semantic organisers; developing questioning strategies; and
monitoring their own comprehension and then identifying and resolving
difficulties for themselves (see also metacognition and self-regulation).

Strategies are often taught to a class and then practiced in pairs or small
groups (see also collaborative learning approaches).
Key findings
1. Reading comprehension strategies are high impact on average (+6
months). Alongside phonics it is a crucial component of early reading
instruction.
2. It is important to identify the appropriate level of text difficulty, to
provide appropriate context to practice the skills, desire to engage with
the text and enough challenge to improve reading comprehension.
3. Effective diagnosis of reading difficulties is important in identifying
possible solutions, particularly for older struggling readers. Pupils can
struggle with decoding words, understanding the structure of the
language used, or understanding particular vocabulary, which may be
subject-specific.
4. A wide range of strategies and approaches can be successful, but for
many pupils they need to be taught explicitly and consistently.
5. It is crucial to support pupils to apply the comprehension strategies
independently to other reading tasks, contexts and subjects.
How effective is the approach?
The average impact of reading comprehension strategies is an additional
six months’ progress over the course of a year. Successful reading
comprehension approaches allow activities to be carefully tailored to
pupils’ reading capabilities, and involve activities and texts that provide
an effective, but not overwhelming, challenge.
Many of the approaches can be usefully combined with Collaborative
learning techniques and Phonics activities to develop reading skills. The
use of techniques such as graphic organisers and drawing pupils’
attention to text features are likely to be particularly useful when reading
expository or information texts.
There are some indications that approaches involving digital technology
can be successful in improving reading comprehension (although there
are relatively few studies in this area), particularly when they focus on the
application and practice of specific strategies and the use of self-
questioning skills.
Supporting struggling readers is likely to require a coordinated effort
across the curriculum and a combination of approaches that include
phonics, reading comprehension and oral language approaches. No
particular strategy should be seen as a panacea, and careful diagnosis of
the reasons why an individual pupil is struggling should guide the choice
of intervention strategies.
Behind the average
 More studies have been
conducted with primary age
pupils, but the teaching of
reading comprehension
strategies appears effective
across both primary (+6
months) and secondary
schools (+7 months).
 Although the main focus is
on reading, comprehension
strategies have been
successfully used in
a number of curriculum
subjects where it is
important to be able to read
and understand text.
 Lower attaining pupils
appear to benefit in
particular from the explicit
teaching of strategies to
comprehend text.
 There are some indications
that approaches involving
digital technology can be
successful in improving
reading comprehension,
particularly when they focus
on the application and
practice of specific
strategies and the use of
self-questioning skills.
 Shorter interventions of up
to 10 weeks tend to be more
successful. However, there
are some examples of
successful longer
interventions.
Closing the disadvantage gap
Studies in England have shown that pupils eligible for free school meals
may receive additional benefits from being taught how to use reading
comprehension strategies. However, the UK evidence base is less
extensive than the global average, and UK studies show lower impact for
all pupils.

Reading comprehensions strategies involve the teaching of explicit

approaches and techniques a pupil can use to improve their
comprehension of written text. Many learners will develop these
approaches without teacher guidance, adopting the strategies through
trial and error as they look to better understand texts that challenge
them. However, we know that on average, disadvantaged children are
less likely to own a book of their own and read at home with family
members, and for these reasons may not acquire the necessary skills for
reading and understanding challenging texts.
How could you implement in your setting?
Reading comprehension strategies work through a number of different
mechanisms – all focused on improving the understanding of meaning of
text effectively. Common elements include:

 explicit teaching of strategies;

 teachers questioning pupils to apply key steps;
 summarising or identifying key points;
 metacognitive talk to model strategies;
 using graphic or semantic organisers;
 using peer and self-questioning strategies to practice the strategies
(such as reciprocal questioning); and
 pupils monitoring their own comprehension and identifying
difficulties themselves.
Reading comprehension strategy interventions are typically delivered
between one to three terms of a school year, either by teachers within
class settings, or by teaching assistants with smaller groups.

Evidence suggests that reading comprehension approaches need to be

tailored to pupils’ current reading capabilities, so it is important that
teachers receive professional development in effective diagnosis as well
as training in the use of particular techniques and materials.
When introducing new approaches, schools should consider
implementation. For more information see Putting Evidence to Work –
A School’s Guide to Implementation.
What does it cost?
The average cost of reading comprehension strategies is estimated as
very low. The cost to schools is largely based on training and professional
development, books and learning resources, the majority of which are
initial start-up costs paid during the first year of delivery. Whilst the
median cost estimate for reading comprehension programmes is very low,
the range of prices between available programmes and the option to
purchase additional ongoing training and support for teaching staff means
that costs can range from very low to low.

Effective teaching of reading comprehension strategies will also require

a moderate amount of staff time, compared with other approaches.
Alongside time and cost, school leaders should consider how to develop
teachers’ ability to use specific techniques for particular pupils’ needs and
ensure they use texts that provide an effective challenge to readers.
How secure is the evidence?
The security of the evidence around reading comprehension
strategies is rated as high. 141 studies were identified that met the
inclusion criteria for the Toolkit. Overall, the topic lost one padlock
because a large percentage of the studies were not independently
evaluated. Evaluations conducted by organisations connected with
the approach – for example, commercial providers, typically have
larger impacts, which may influence the overall impact of the strand.

As with any evidence review, the Toolkit summarises the average

impact of approaches when researched in academic studies. It is
important to consider your context and apply your professional
judgement when implementing an approach in your setting.
The security of the evidence around reading comprehension strategies is rated as
highhttps://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-
learning-toolkit/reading-comprehension-strategies

5 Core Components of Reading - Comprehension

How ToReading FluencyReading Comprehension
Oct 8
Hey there friends!

So we are wrapping up the 5 Core Components of Literacy

this week with the final component, arguably the most
important component, comprehension!

The end goal of reading is obviously…

Reading Comprehension
The entire purpose of going through the process of learning
to read is so that we can use reading as a way to gather
information and learn new things.

And yet we have two major problems in the way many

reading programs are teaching students to learn today. We
are faced with one or two of these problems in nearly all
reading programs.

Problem 1 -
We are teaching all the foundational reading skills and
assuming students will naturally know how to comprehend
the materials once they can read the words.

or…

Problem 2 -
We are focusing only on using background knowledge and
prior information assuming that students will be able to fill in
the gaps based on what they know about the world without
explicitly teaching foundational reading skills.

The answer to having true reading comprehension is to focus

on both:

Foundational Reading Skills + Explicit

Reading Comprehension Instruction
So what exactly does this look like?

First, you want to make sure your reading instruction is

systematically targetting foundational reading skills
including:

Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, and

Reading Fluency

Next, you want to make sure you are aware of the specific
reading comprehension skills your students need. There are
several specific skills students must master but we have
what we consider:

The Big 5 of Reading Comprehension

It’s important to recognize this list isn’t exhaustive or all-
inclusive but it’s a great place to start. So without further
ado, let’s jump into the Big 5 of Reading Comprehension.
1 - Ability to Identify the Main Idea & Key Details

Students need to be able to recognize the big picture in a

passage. We target this skill by asking the simple questions
“Why did the author write this passage? Why should we care?
Did the author give us any details to further explain what
they are talking about?” Students who struggle to identify the
big picture may struggle with this concept.

How do I support struggling students?

You can work through category-sorting activities to help

students build this foundational skill. For example, you may
give students a number of different foods including fruits,
vegetables, desserts, etc., and ask them to create categories
and then label each individual category with the big picture
(in this case food).
2 - Ability to Sequence a Passage into an Ordinal Series

Students must be able to recognize first, then, last, or

beginning, middle, and end then put those events into a
sequence. As they get older it is important that they begin
annotating each sentence or paragraph by providing a 2-3
word summary. This will help support the identification of the
main idea and key details.

How do I support struggling students?

You can provide events or stories out of order and have

students work independently or in groups to get the order
back into a reasonable sequence. Start off small with first/last
and then progress to longer sequences.
3 - Ability to Answer Direct Recall Questions

We need to teach students how to key into the specific

information they need to hold onto. Think about those key
“W-questions” specifically who, what, when, & where. These
will often be the key pieces of information that students
should be able to answer when they finish reading a passage.

How do I support struggling students?

You may want to consider highlighting or color-coding any

who, what, when, and where topics with different colors. We
LOVE using highlighters and visual representations to clue
into key information. So many of our students really need this
visual and even better if you can be consistent with your
colors. For example, always color a who in yellow, what in
orange, where in green, and when in blue.
4 - Ability to Make Inferences and/or Predictions

So this is where we start to get into higher-level reading

comprehension strategies. This is where things really start to
get interesting because we need to step outside of what the
passage has specifically told us. and start using background
knowledge or life experiences to bring our understanding to a
new level. We need to take what the passage has told us and
start really thinking about it. This can be difficult for students
because many struggle with abstract reasoning and often
inferences and predictions aren’t concrete.

How do I support struggling students?

Give LOTS of opportunities to work through passages that

require inferences and making predictions. You can also play
games with younger students to help them begin to process
this information. For example, “I am wearing a coat, gloves,
and a hat - where am I?” You can easily adapt these same
games for older students “the year is 1912, I’m on a boat, I’m
about to take over a previously established land - who am I”.
Think 20 Questions type of games here which can really help
build those inferencing skills in a fun and engaging way!

5 - Identify Unfamiliar Vocabulary

Okay, so this is kind of cheating as we jump back to one of

the other core components of literacy…BUT, it’s so critical
that we had to include it as part of our Big 5 of
Comprehension. If students don’t recognize vocabulary that
is unfamiliar they can lose so much of the meaning of a
passage. Sometimes they don’t even realize how much of the
overall message they have lost by simply not understanding
specific words. It’s critical that students can begin to self-
monitor their understanding of specific words within a
passage.

How do I support struggling students?

Give students a framework for recognizing unknown

vocabulary and self-assessing using a structured approach to
defining words. You can go check out our Vocabulary
instruction method over here!

https://www.ascendlearningcenter.com/blog-highlights/reading-comprehension

. 141 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria for the Toolkit. Overall, the
topic lost one padlock because a large percentage of the studies were not
independently evaluated. Evaluations conducted by organisations connected with
the approach – for example, commercial providers, typically have larger impacts,
which may influence the overall impact of the strand.

As with any evidence review, the Toolkit summarises the average impact of
approaches when researched in academic studies. It is important to consider your
context and apply your professional judgement when implementing an approach in
your setting.