Rethinking Reading Comprehension (Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy)

Rethinking Reading Comprehension (Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy)

This practical book grows out of a recent report written by the RAND Reading Study Group (RRSG), which proposed a national research agenda in the area of reading comprehension. Here, RRSG members have expanded on their findings and translated them into clear recommendations to inform practice. Teachers gain the latest knowledge about how students learn to comprehend texts and what can be done to improve the quality of instruction in this essential domain. From leading literacy scholars, the book explains research-based ways to: *Plan effective instruction for students at all grade levels *Meet the comprehension needs of English-language learners *Promote adolescents' comprehension of subject-area texts *Understand the complexities of comprehension assessment *Get optimal benefits from instructional technologies *And much more! "On the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading, only one-quarter to one-third of students were proficient readers. Educators are giving increased attention to teaching young children to decode, but decoding alone will not result in the comprehension essential for proficient reading. If you want an understanding of the reader, text, activity, and context variables that influence comprehension, and cogent explanations of research-based strategies to develop students' comprehension, this is a ‘must-have' book."--Carol Westby, PhD, College of Education, University of New Mexico "Are you looking for a challenging and thought-provoking text for your next school-based study group or your educator book club discussion? Are you searching for a text to guide teachers through self-reflection on their daily teaching practices? This text is a wonderful staff development tool! It needs to be in your school's professional library. Each chapter presents a teacher-friendly synthesis of current reading comprehension research and nicely bridges that research to classroom practice by concluding with a summary of what is known on the specific comprehension topic and what is yet to be learned. The many examples in each chapter clarify concepts and illustrate the many considerations involved as students learn to simultaneously extract and construct meaning. You'll enjoy the humor, the classroom examples, and the succinct and clear presentation of vital issues."--Kathy Jongsma, EdD, literacy consultant, Orlando, Florida "This book offers much more than a revisiting of old notions. To these editors and authors, 'rethinking' means transforming our understanding of reading comprehension in ways that scaffold to better instruction. The volume reveals the next generation of research questions that will guide our field, as articulated by leading scholars. Addressed head-on are issues of diversity, context, technology, and instruction as they relate to reading comprehension. This book will serve as an outstanding text for advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in reading comprehension, as well as extended inservice/professional development studies of comprehension instruction."--James V. Hoffman, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin "Many readers have left the RAND Report and other recent writings on comprehension inspired to learn more. This book provides more--lots more! Presented in an accessible and engaging manner are discussions of comprehension in such diverse populations as adolescents, English language learners, and struggling readers; comprehension of different types of texts; specific approaches to assessment and instruction, including collaborative, concept-oriented, and transactional approaches; and more. Teachers wanting to learn more about comprehension research and its implications for the classroom would be well advised to read this book, as would researchers seeking an efficient means to review a range of important recent work. I especially advise graduate students to look carefully at this text, as it illuminates many key directions for future research."--Nell K. Duke, EdD, College of Education, Michigan State University "This is a useful addition to the growing body of literature on comprehension. Teachers can learn what research tells us about effective instruction for students across a range of grade levels. Each chapter clearly lays out current findings on particular aspects of instruction, focuses in on the key issues that teachers need to keep in mind, and considers where investigators may be heading in the future. A very useful resource."--Taffy E. Raphael, PhD, University of Illinois-Chicago Anne Polselli Sweet, EdD, who directed the RAND reading study while Scholar-in-Residence at RAND, is with the U.S. Department of Education’s research agency, the Institute for Education Sciences, where she focuses on research in reading and K–12 literacy. She oversees national efforts to conduct research, does intramural research on literacy-related issues, and works on interagency research i