Toward More Meaningful Decisions about Comprehension Instruction

In this project, the researchers proposed to develop standardized lessons using common texts and two major approaches to comprehension instruction. The researchers would then implement the approaches and pilot test their promise for improving education outcomes. In the early 2000s, research suggested that the field needed a deeper understanding of the kind of instructional practices that affect students' comprehension. Two approaches emerged: a strategies approach, in which students are explicitly taught how to apply specific strategies to the reading process, and a content approach, in which focuses on keeping students' attention directed toward the content of what they are reading and working through the text to build a representation of the ideas the text presents. Using these two instructional approaches, the researchers aimed to develop instruction.