Project Activities
The research team used an iterative design process to develop the Story Detective intervention, involving repeated cycles of development, feedback, and revision. At each stage (field trials and pilot), they used a blocked randomized control trial design in which children were matched on demographics and language skills and randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions within each matched pair.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This project took place in school districts situated in urban and suburban locations in southern California.
Sample
The research team worked with elementary schools that serve children from various backgrounds. Kindergartners in participating schools and teachers were eligible to participate in the study.
The Story Detective intervention includes explicit and systematic instruction on the following language and cognitive skills based on theory and empirical evidence: vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, text structure knowledge, comprehension monitoring, and inference. Story Detective consists of 22 weeks with 3 or 4 days of instruction per week (25 to 30 minutes per session). The 22 weeks are composed of four units of 5 weeks and 2 weeks of cumulative review. Target skills are aligned with the Common Core State Standards or similar state standards.
Research design and methods
To develop Story Detective, the research team revised and extended the already established COMPASS (Comprehension Monitoring and Providing Awareness of Story Structure) program. COMPASS focuses on teaching three component skills of reading comprehension—vocabulary, comprehension monitoring, and text structure knowledge. A teacher focus group and consultants provided feedback throughout the development process. Once the researchers had developed an initial Story Detective program, teachers implemented the program and provided feedback on its usability and feasibility. A field trial with a pre- and post-design was then conducted. In the final 2 years, the research team conducted a pilot study with a randomized controlled trial design with teachers to evaluate feasibility, usability, fidelity, and promise of the fully developed intervention.
Control condition
Students in the control condition received business-as-usual instruction.
Key measures
The research team developed Story Detective by using multiple sources of feedback, including expert consultants, teachers, interventionists, observations, and student assessment data. Student assessment included targeted language and cognitive skills (vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, text structure knowledge, comprehension monitoring, inference) as well as listening comprehension, using experimental and standardized assessments. Standardized assessments included the following: the Comprehension subtest of the Test of Narrative Language-2nd Edition, the Understanding Spoken Paragraphs subtest of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4th Edition (CELF-4), Theory of Mind Inventory-2, Grammaticality Judgment task from the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language-2nd Edition (CASL-2), Inference Making subtest of the CASL-2, Word Structure subtest of the CELF-4, and Expressive Vocabulary subtest of the CELF-4. The research team also collected implementation fidelity data in the pilot study.
Data analytic strategy
The research team analyzed transcripts from advisory board meetings, feedback from teachers and interventionists, and classroom observation for development and revision and for usability and feasibility of Story Detective. In addition, the team analyzed student assessment data in the pilot study using multi-level modeling to examine the promise of Story Detective on language and cognitive skills and listening comprehension.
Cost analysis strategy
The research team will calculate the cost for implementing the pilot study at multiple levels (overall cost for implementation, and per student and class) accounting for expenditures for personnel (including training), facilities, and materials. Costs for teachers who provide instruction in the pilot study and teacher professional development will also be estimated. In addition, the research team will determine cost analysis per component for the five explicitly targeted components in iMODEL (vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, inference, comprehension monitoring, and text structure knowledge) by estimating percentage of these component per instructional session, and by dividing the total cost by the estimated percentage. Intervention costs will be contrasted with those of the comparison group (business-as-usual) which will incur costs for classroom facilities and teachers.
Key outcomes
- Curriculum Development: Story Detective was successfully developed with all materials necessary for classroom implementation.
- Feasibility and Usability: A field trial (pre-post design) and pilot study (RCT design) demonstrated that Story Detective is both feasible and usable in classroom settings.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Project website:
Publications:
ERIC: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Cao*, Y., & Kim, Y.-S. G. (2024). Longitudinal relations between literacy instruction and early reading achievement: Findings from classroom observations in Grades 1 to 3. Reading and Writing, 38, 117-1196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-024-10556-1
Cao, Y., Kim, Y.-S. G., & Cho, M. (2022). Are observed classroom practices related to student language/literacy achievement? Review of Educational Research, 93(5), 679-717. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543221130687
Cho, M., & Kim, Y.-S. G. (2024). Examining linguistic and discourse features in oral text production and their dimensionality. First Language, 44(2), 153-172. https://doi.org/10.1177/01427237231219843
Cho, M., & Kim, Y.-S. G. (2023). Do second graders adjust their language by discourse context? Journal of Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 54(2), 569-583. https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00100
Kim, Y.-S. G. (2023). Dimensionality of comprehension and retell of narrative and informational texts, and the relations of language and cognitive skills to identified dimensions. Child Development, 94, e246-e263. http://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13935
Kim, Y.-S. G. (2023). Simplicity meets complexity: Expanding the simple view of reading with the direct and indirect effects model of reading. In S. Cabell, S. Neuman, & N. Patton-Terry (Eds.) Handbook on the science of early literacy. Guilford Press.
Kim, Y.-S. G. (2022). Learning to read and write. In I. Wilkinson & J. Parr (Eds.), Cognition, Human Development and Learning of the International Encyclopedia of Education-4th Edition (Tierney, R., Rizvi, F., Ercikan Series Editors). Elsevier.
Kim, Y.-S. G. (2022). Co-occurrence of reading and writing difficulties: The application of the interactive dynamic literacy model. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 55(6), 447-464. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222194211060868
Kim, Y.-S. G. (2021). Inferencing skill and attentional control account for the connection between reading comprehension and mathematics. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.709944
Kim, Y.-S. G., & Leachman, M. (2026). From ears to eyes: Supporting reading comprehension through systematic instruction on listening comprehension. Best Practices for Supporting PK-6 Language and Reading Comprehension. Guilford Press.
Kim, Y.-S. G., & Snow, C. E. (2021). The science of reading is incomplete without the science of teaching. The Reading League, 2(3), 5-8 & 10-13.
Kim, Y.-S. G., Dore, R. A., Cho*, M., Golinkoff, R., & Amendum, S. (2021). Theory of mind, mental state talk, and discourse comprehension: Theory of mind process is more important for narrative comprehension than for informational text comprehension. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 209, 105181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105181
Kim, Y.-S. G., Little, C., Petscher, Y., & Vorstius, C. (2022). Developmental trajectories of eye movements in oral and silent reading from grades 1 to 3 for English-speaking children. Scientific Reports, 12: 18708. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23420-5
Kim, Y.-S. G., Petscher, Y., Treiman, R., & Kelcey, B. (2020). Letter features as predictors of letter-name acquisition in four languages with three scripts. Scientific Studies of Reading, 25(6), 453-469. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2020.1830406
Seoane, R. C., Wang, J., Cao, Y., & Kim, Y.-S. G. (2025). Unpacking the Relation Between Oral Language and Written Composition: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543251320359
Wang, J., Kim, Y.-S. G., & Cho, M. (2024). Linguistic features in narrative and opinion genres and their relations to writing quality in fourth grade writing. Journal of Research in Reading, 47(2), 220-239. https://doi.org/10.111/1467-9817.12453
Wolters, A., & Kim, Y.-S. G. (2024). Are written syntax features related to writing quality? An examination of Spanish and English compositions by dual language children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(8), 2566-2582. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00270
Wolters, A., & Kim, Y.-S. G. (2024). Crosslinguistic influence on spelling in written compositions: Evidence from English-Spanish dual language learners in primary grades. Reading and Writing, 37, 1059-1078. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-023-10416-4
Available data:
Data is available on the project's OSF page: https://osf.io/vmhu6/overview?view_only=2829bbc73802443c8c3a8a2d09f040a0
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