Co-Principal Investigator(s): Rapp, David; McMaster, Kristen

Purpose: In this study, the researchers proposed to develop and pilot test a set of interventions to improve students' reading comprehension. These interventions were to be based on rigorous theoretical and empirical work that had direct relevance for educational practice and that would improve the underlying reading comprehension processes of struggling readers. The researchers contended that prior research  was limited because it did not focus on both online processes and offline products of struggling readers. They aimed to overcome this limitation in part by using a comprehensive theoretical framework to understand reading comprehension processes and develop interventions for readers of different ages and abilities and within different types of text.

The researchers had three specific aims for their work:

1. Develop an integrated framework of reading comprehension processes across students of various grade and performance levels.
2. Examine the effects of interventions developed based on the integrated framework of reading comprehension in controlled experimental settings.
3. Examine the effectiveness of classroom-based implementation of the interventions developed in Specific Aim #2 in collaboration with participating school districts.

Products and Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

Select Publications:

Book chapters

Rapp, D.N., and Kurby, C.A. (2008). The 'Ins' and 'Outs' of Learning: Internal Representations and External Visualizations. In J.K. Gilbert, M. Reiner, and M. Nakleh (Eds.), Visualization: Theory and practice in science education (pp. 29–52). Springer, Dordrecht.

van den Broek, P., Kendeou, P., and White, M.J. (2008). Cognitive Processes During Reading: Implications for the Use of Multimedia to Foster Reading Comprehension. In A.G. Bus, and S.B. Neuman (Eds.), Multimedia and Literacy Development: Improving Achievement for Young Learners(pp. 57–74). New York: Routledge.

van den Broek, P., White, M.J., Kendeou, P., and Carlson, S. (2009). Reading Between the Lines: Developmental and Individual Differences in Cognitive Processes in Reading Comprehension. In R. Wagner (Ed.), Biological and Behavioral Bases of Reading Comprehension(pp. 107–123). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

van den Broek, P., Espin, C., McMaster, K., and Helder, A. (2017). Developing Reading Comprehension Interventions: Perspectives from Theory and Practice. In E. Segers and P. van den Broeck (Eds.), Developmental Perspectives in Written Language and Literacy: In honor of Ludo Verhoeven, (pp. 85–101). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Zwaan, R.A., and Rapp, D.N. (2006). Discourse comprehension. In M. Traxler and M.A. Gernsbacher (Eds.), Handbook of Psycholinguistics (Second Edition) (pp. 725–764). Elsevier.

Journal articles

Carlson, S.E., van den Broek, P., McMaster, K., Rapp, D.N., Bohn-Gettler, C.M., Kendeou, P., and White, M.J. (2014). Effects of Comprehension Skill on Inference Generation During Reading. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 61(3), 258–274.

Clinton, V., Seipel, B., van den Broek, P., McMaster, K.L., Kendeou, P., Carlson, S.E., and Rapp, D.N. (2014). Gender Differences in Inference Generation by Fourth-Grade Students. Journal of Research in Reading, 37(4), 356–374.

McMaster, K.L., Espin, C.A., and van den Broek, P. (2014). Making Connections: Linking Cognitive Psychology and Intervention Research to Improve Comprehension of Struggling Readers. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 29(1), 17–24.

Muijselaar, M. M., Kendeou, P., de Jong, P. F., and van den Broek, P. W. (2017). What Does the CBM-Maze Test Measure?. Scientific Studies of Reading, 21(2), 120–132.

Rapp, D.N. (2006). What Readers Do: Reader-Guided Processes In Discourse Comprehension. Information Design Journal, 14 (2): 109–113.

Rapp, D.N. (2006). The Value of Attention Aware Systems in Educational Settings. Computers In Human Behavior, 22(4), 603–614.

Rapp, D.N. (2008). How do Readers Handle Incorrect Information During Reading?. Memory and Cognition, 36(3): 688–701.

Rapp, D. N., and Gerrig, R. J. (2006). Predilections for Narrative Outcomes: The Impact of Story Contexts and Reader Preferences. Journal of Memory and Language, 54(1), 54–67.

Rapp, D.N., and Kendeou, P. (2007). Revising What Readers Know: Updating Text Representations During Narrative Comprehension. Memory and Cognition, 35 (8): 2019–2032.

Rapp, D.N., and Kendeou, P. (2009). Noticing and Revising Discrepancies as Texts Unfold. Discourse Processes, 46(1): 1–24.

Rapp, D.N., van den Broek, P., McMaster, K.L., Kendeou, P., and Espin, C.A. (2007). Higher-Order Comprehension Processes in Struggling Readers: A Perspective for Research and Intervention. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(4): 289–312.

Rapp, D.R., and van den Broek, P. (2005). Dynamic Text Comprehension: An Integrative View of Reading. Current Directions in Psychological Sciences, 14(5): 276–279.

Tilstra, J., McMaster, K., van den Broek, P., Kendeou, P., and Rapp, D. (2009). Simple but Complex: Components of the Simple View of Reading Across Grade Levels. Journal of Research in Reading, 32(4): 383–401.