Comprehension Instruction: Research-Based Best Practices. Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy.

Noting that comprehension instruction is widely recognized as an essential component of developing students' pleasure and profit from reading, this book presents 25 essays on comprehension instruction that summarize current research and provide best-practice guidelines for teachers and teacher educators. Each chapter in the book presents key findings on a particular aspect of comprehension, discusses instructional practices supported by the research, and addresses what still needs to be known in order to provide the best possible comprehension instruction for every student. Topics covered in the book include assessment, curriculum, methods, and comprehension difficulties, from the preschool level through high school. Essays in Section I, Theoretical Foundations: New Directions For the Future, are: "Comprehension Strategies Instruction: A Turn-of-the-Century Status Report" (Michael Pressley); "The Case for Direct Explanation of Strategies" (Gerald G. Duffy); "Process-Based Comprehension Instruction: Perspectives of Four Reading Educators" (Cathy Collins Block, Joni L. Schaller, Joseph A. Joy, Paola Gaine); "Implications of Cognitive Resource Allocation for Comprehension Strategies Instruction" (Gale M. Sinatra, Kathleen J. Brown, Ralph E. Reynolds); "Metacognition in Comprehension Instruction" (Linda Baker); and "Teaching Reading Self-Assessment Strategies" (Peter Afflerbach). Essays in Section II, Branching Out and Expanding Our Horizons in the 21st Century, are: "Reading in Web-Based Learning Environments" (Hiller A. Spires and Thomas H. Estes); "Using the Theme Scheme to Improve Story Comprehension" (Joanna P. Williams); "'Oh Excellent, Excellent Question!': Developmental Differences and Comprehension Acquisition" (Laura B. Smolkin and Carol A. Donovan); "Individual Differences That Influence Reading Comprehension" (Darcia Narvaez); "Teaching Readers How to Comprehend Text Strategically" (Tom Trabasso, Edward Bouchard); and "Challenges of Implementing Transactional Strategies Instruction for Reading Comprehension" (Pamela Beard El-Dinary). Essays in Section III, Comprehension Instruction in Preschool, Primary, and Intermediate Grades, are: "Preparing Young Learners for Successful Reading Comprehension: Laying the Foundation" (Diane H. Tracey and Lesley Mandel Morrow); "Building Comprehension When They're Still Learning to Read the Words" (Gay Ivey); "Comprehension Instruction in the Primary Grades" (P. David Pearson and Nell K. Duke); "Beyond Literature Circles: Helping Students Comprehend Informational Texts" (Donna Ogle and Camille L. Z. Blachowicz); "Instructional Contexts for Reading Engagement" (John T. Guthrie and Sevgi Ozgungor); "Children Searching and Using Information Text: A Critical Part of Comprehension" (Mariam Jean Dreher); "Imagery: A Strategy for Enhancing Comprehension" (Linda B. Gambrell and Patricia S. Koskinen); and "The Argument Schema and Learning to Reason" (Alina Reznitskaya and Richard C. Anderson). Essays in Section IV, Intensification of Comprehension Instruction Throughout Middle School, High School, and College, are: "Straddling Two Worlds: Self-Directed Comprehension Instruction for Middle Schoolers" (Rachel Brown); "Improving the Reading Comprehension of At-Risk Adolescents" (Joseph B. Fisher, Jean B. Schumaker, Donald D. Deshler); and "Encouraging Active Reading at the College Level" (Michele L. Simpson and Sherrie L. Nist). The concluding essay is: "Summing Up: What Comprehension Instruction Could Be" (Michael Pressley and Cathy Collins Block). A subject index and an author index are included. (RS)