Purpose: Complex features of science texts present idiosyncratic challenges for middle grade readers, especially in a post-Common Core educational world where students' learning is dependent on understanding informational text. The primary aim of this study was to explore how middle school readers process science texts and whether such…

Recent reading research has identified three reader variables involved in fluent reading: automatic word identification, contextual word identification, and text phrasing. To confirm the validity of these variables in the reading process, to test reading models employing them in an integrated and interactive manner, and to identify developmental…