Improving Elementary School Students’ Reading Comprehension Through Content-Rich Literacy Curriculum: The Effect of Structured Read-Aloud Supplements on Measures of Comprehension Transfer

• In Event: The Science of Teaching Reading Part 2: Instructional Approaches That Promote Reading Development

Abstract

This study contributes to the science of teaching reading by illustrating how a ubiquitous classroom practice – read alouds – can be enhanced by fostering teacher language practices that support students’ ability to read for understanding. Read-aloud lessons have proven to be effective in building vocabulary knowledge and are a popular type of lesson in elementary schools (Ard & Beverly, 2004; Biemiller & Boote, 2006; Elley, 1989; McKeown & Beck, 2014; Parsons & Bryant, 2016; Penno et al., 2002; Robbins & Ehri, 1994; Senechal & Cornell, 1993; Silverman, 2007), yet their effects on reading comprehension have been mixed (Baker et al., 2020; Coyne et al., 2010; McKeown & Beck, 2014;). Additionally, science and social studies are often taught separately, preventing students from making connections between both domains. This experimental study examines whether and to what extent providing structured teacher read aloud supplements in a social studies read aloud can allow students to leverage a familiar science schema and thereby positively impact reading comprehension outcomes. Third-grade students (n = 965) were blocked on schools (n = 19) and randomly assigned at the classroom level (n = 80). All students had previously participated in the Model of Reading Engagement science intervention two months prior. Treatment students received a single social studies read-aloud on the story of Apollo 11 with structured teacher read aloud supplements that included 1) explicit vocabulary instruction for key vocabulary words, 2) discussion questions, and 3) a schema-mapping activity designed to help students link social studies and science schemas. Control students received the same read-aloud story but without structured teacher read aloud supplements. Reading comprehension measures were comprised of four assessments: recall, a domain-specific near-transfer passage on the lunar module, a mid-transfer passage on the Empire State building, and a domain-general End-of-Grade standardized assessment administered at the end of the school year. Effect sizes from hierarchical linear models indicated that students in the treatment condition significantly outperformed students in the control condition on recall , near transfer , and mid transfer passages. Further exploratory analyses using structural equation modeling examined the extent that teacher language – the number of times teachers provided word explanations beyond the lesson script, used target vocabulary words beyond the script, and asked additional questions – mediated the treatment effect. Results indicated that teachers going above and beyond the intervention script explained 67 percent of the treatment effect . Additionally, HLMs revealed that teachers who provided extra explanations of word meanings in both conditions did not result in improved comprehension scores, suggesting that the quantity of explanations is secondary to the quality. Indeed, connecting word meanings to schemas and helping students see important connections between schemas can help students comprehend texts across domains, and structured teacher read aloud supplements can help students connect previously disparate topics and improve domain-specific reading comprehension. Attempting to improve reading comprehension outcomes is no small task, yet incremental research that bends the knowledge-seeking arc and provides practitioners with practical and actionable practices is exactly what is needed to improve literacy outcomes for children.

Authors

• Douglas M. Mosher, Harvard University

• James Kim, Harvard University