This article provides a commentary within the special issue, Integration: The Keystone of Comprehension. According to most contemporary frameworks, a driving force in comprehension is the reader's ability to generate the links among the words and sentences (ideas) in the texts and between the ideas in the text and what the readers already know. As…

This article provides a commentary within the special issue, Integration: The Keystone of Comprehension. According to most contemporary frameworks, a driving force in comprehension is the reader's ability to generate the links among the words and sentences (ideas) in the texts and between the ideas in the text and what the readers already know. As…

Purpose: In this article, we respond to Catts and Kamhi's (2017) argument that reading comprehension is not a single ability. Method: We provide a brief review of the impact of strategy instruction, the importance of knowledge in reading comprehension, and possible avenues for future research and practice. Results: We agree with Catts and Kamhi's…

As a result of the Reading First Program of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the view of reading has narrowed. Individual state's Reading First professional development programs, and hence reading teachers across the United States, have spent the six years since the funding of the program in 2002 focusing beginning and developmental reading on…

Comments on considerations that have implications for interpreting the work of Shanahan and associates, which appeared in this journal in 1982. Reviews research that was either ignored or inaccurately reviewed by them and offers suggestions for synthesizing the results of research investigating the sensitivity of the cloze procedure to…

Defines direct instruction, reviews research analyzing its characteristics and offers reflections on direct instruction of reading comprehension. (FL)

Critiques Fleming's proposed alternative to Rubenstein's evidence for phonemic encoding. This reanalysis strengthens the evidence for phonemic encoding and suggests that Fleming's "alternative" should be considered as another source of variance affecting recognition, not as a mutually exclusive alternative to phonemic encoding. (HOD)

Addresses lack of overlap and intercommunication between research on early reading and reading comprehension. Discusses metacognitive control in reading and learning processes. Suggests the emancipation of attentional resources by the automatization of lower level word identification and higher level basic comprehension skills. Concludes with…

In this article, the author argues that there is minimal scientific support for the pedagogical approaches promoted for low-income students in the federal Reading First initiative. In combination with high-stakes testing, the interpretation of the construct "systematic phonics instruction" in Reading First has resulted in highly…

Notes that while researchers talk about many things--what to teach, how to teach, and when to teach reading--they don't talk about why to teach it. (FL)

States that although the think-aloud method (TAM) is being used with increasing frequency in studying text comprehension, some skepticism of its value remains. Discusses assumptions behind TAM, aspects of comprehension it can reveal, and directions for research using TAM. Argues that TAM is a useful technique for tracking changes in the contents…

Discusses D. Durkin's 1979 study of reading comprehension instruction and J. Heap's critique of the study in a recent issue of "Journal of Reading Behavior." Asserts that the traditional reading lesson is a vehicle for acculturation or teaching cultural knowledge and logic. (SRT)

Argues that metacognitive development should remain--or become--an aspect of instruction that aims to enhance students' reading comprehension. (HOD)

Reviews "Comprehension Instruction: Perspectives and Suggestions," by Gerald G. Duffy, Laura R. Roehler, and Jana Mason. (FL)

Comments on points raised in June Phillips' paper, "Practical Implications of Recent Research in Reading." These points are: successful comprehension of any reading selection depends upon three interrelated factors; reading should be thought of in terms of stages and purposes; and teachers should use reading selections to incorporate a…