Study Name
 |
Design
Rating
 |
Strategy, Subjects, Effects
 |
Topics
|
Table information is abbreviated. Click "Read full review" links below for full citations of author and journal names and for details about the studies. |
Study:
Rowe & Rayford.
Activating background knowledge in reading comprehension assessment.
Read full review
reading_4-6_10 |
Meta-analysis |
Strategy: Schema elaboration in response to purpose questions
Subjects: 24 first graders, 28 sixth graders from intact elementary classes, and 22 tenth graders selected by high school administrators as a cross-section of the academic abilities from 2 schools in a small-city school district in south-central Indiana. Most were from white, middle-income families.
Results: Students at all grade levels were able to use purpose questions to activate background knowledge and make prediction about passage content. Content information activated was dependent upon student familiarity with the topic or on the number of familiar concepts also presented in the purpose question. Schema elaboration in the responses appeared to vary by purpose question. First graders tended to tell stories when asked to predict passage content. Sixth and tenth grade responses were found to be dependent upon the purpose question asked. |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 1, 6, 10
Keywords:
purpose questions; genre clues; topic familiarity |
Study:
Dole, Valencia, Greer, & Wardrop.
Effects of two types of prereading instruction on the comprehension of narrative and expository text.
Read full review
reading_4-6_4 |
5 |
Strategy: Teacher-directed strategy = directly explains information deemed necessary for comprehending the text to be read. Interactive strategy = teacher leads a discussion to help students activate their existing knowledge about the topics of upcoming texts.
Subjects: 63 5th graders in Midwestern town
Results: Effect size for teacher-directed strategy group +4.57 |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Activating Background Knowledge
– Discussion
Grades: 5
Keywords:
teacher-directed; narrative; expository |
Study:
Carnine & Kinder.
Teaching low-performing students to apply generative & schema strategies to narrative and expository materials
Read full review
reading_4-6_29 |
4 |
Strategy: Schema treatment and Generative treatment
Subjects: 27 fourth, fifth and sixth graders poor (2 grade levels below) comprehension and receiving special services for reading
Results: No significant difference between the two interventions. Comparison on the overall effect of training was significant. Low-performing students made significant improvements in comprehension in a relatively short period of time. |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Strategy Instruction
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 4, 5, 6
Diverse Learners
Keywords:
imagery; summarizing; student questions; narrative text; expository text |
Study:
Reutzel.
Investigating a synthesized comprehension instructional strategy: The cloze story map
Read full review
reading_4-6_12 |
3 |
Strategy: Cloze Story Map (CSM)
Subjects: 101 Fifth graders in lower and middle class schools in Texas
Results: CSM treatment significantly affected the readers' comprehension of both text types:
Narrative F(1,98) - 18.24, p< .001
Expository F(1,98 = 12.29, p < .001 |
|
Study:
Holmes.
The effect of states of prior knowledge on question answering.
Read full review
reading_4-6_87 |
3 |
Strategy: No specific strategy/model, program, material, or intervention was used. Study looked at the effects prior knowledge of good and poor readers had on their ability to answer questions.
Subjects: 56 5th graders varying in reading ability (CAT score) and level of prior knowledge (# of accurate facts per 2 selected topics).
Results: The study found that poor readers did not seem to use a large store of background knowledge to the same advantage as the good readers. Poor readers with high background information ere less successful in inferencing, modifying correct information and learning new information. |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Questioning Strategies
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 5
Diverse Learners
Keywords:
questioning; expository text |
Study Name
|
Design
Rating
|
Strategy, Subjects, Effects
|
Topics
|
Table information is abbreviated. Click "Read full review" links below for full citations of author and journal names and for details about the studies. |
Alexander & Judy.
The interaction of domain-specific and strategic knowledge in academic performance.
Read full review
reading_7-8_62
|
N/A
Meta-analysis |
Strategy: Domain-specific and strategic knowledge in academic performance
Subjects: N/A (literature review)
Results: N/A
|
• Comprehension
– Activating Background
Knowledge
– Think Aloud
|
Study:
Carr & Thompson.
The effects of prior knowledge and schema activation strategies on the inferential reading comprehension of children with and without learning disabilities.
Read full review
reading_7-8_58
|
5 |
Strategy: Prior knowledge/schema strategies on inferential reading comprehension
Subjects: 48 children from metropolitan schools including 16 7th and 8th-grade children with learning disabilities
Results: This study provided additional evidence that the inferential integration of prior knowledge with explicit text content is facilitated by well-developed prior knowledge schemata.
|
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Activating Background
Knowledge
Grades: 7-8
Diverse Learners
Keywords:
inferences
|
Study:
Lysynchuk, Pressley, & Vye.
Reciprocal teaching improves standardized reading comprehension performance in poor comprehenders.
Read full review
reading_4-6_26 |
4 |
Strategy: Reciprocal teaching
Subjects: 71 fourth and seventh graders considered to be poor comprehenders in Canada
Results:
| Standardized Comprehension and |
Standardized Vocabulary |
| Fourth Graders+.56 |
+.44 |
| Seventh Graders+.54 |
-.41 |
|
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Strategy Instruction
Grades: 3-5, 6-8
Diverse Learners
Keywords:
reciprocal teaching; questioning: summarizing; predicting |
Study:
McNamara, Kintsch, Songer, Butler & Kintsch.
Are good texts always better? Interactions of text coherence, background knowledge, and levels of understanding in learning from text.
Read full review
reading_7-8_52 |
4 |
Strategy: Construction/Integration Models of Text Comprehension
Subjects: Exp 1: 36 seventh through ninth graders in Boulder, Colorado. Exp 2: 56 seventh through tenth graders
Results: Experiment 1: There are advantages for globally coherent text and for more explanatory text.
Experiment 2: Readers who know little about the domain of the text benefit from a coherent text, whereas the high-knowledge readers benefit from a minimally coherent text. |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Text Structure
– Questioning Strategies
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 7, 8, 9
Keywords:
science; inferences; recall |
Study:
Reynolds, Taylor, Steffensen, Shirey, & Anderson.
Cultural schemata and reading comprehension.
Read full review
reading_7-8_61 |
2 |
Strategy: Relationship between cultural schemata and reading comprehension
Subjects: 105 8th-grade students in 3 cities- one with a black working class population and two in a white agricultural area
Results: Results from this study indicate that when reading materials covers an area in which there is a clear cultural difference, there are large differences among groups in comprehension. |
• Comprehension
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 6-8
Keywords:
cultural bias; schemata |
Study Name
|
Design
Rating
|
Strategy, Subjects, Effects
|
Topics
|
Table information is abbreviated. Click "Read full review" links below for full citations of author and journal names and for details about the studies. |
Study:
Rowe & Rayford.
Activating background knowledge in reading comprehension assessment.
Read full review
reading_4-6_10 |
Meta-analysis |
Strategy: Schema elaboration in response to purpose questions
Subjects: 24 first graders, 28 sixth graders from intact elementary classes, and 22 tenth graders selected by high school administrators as a cross-section of the academic abilities from 2 schools in a small-city school district in south-central Indiana. Most were from white, middle-income families.
Results: Students at all grade levels were able to use purpose questions to activate background knowledge and make prediction about passage content. Content information activated was dependent upon student familiarity with the topic or on the number of familiar concepts also presented in the purpose question. Schema elaboration in the responses appeared to vary by purpose question. First graders tended to tell stories when asked to predict passage content. Sixth and tenth grade responses were found to be dependent upon the purpose question asked. |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 1, 6, 10
Keywords:
purpose questions; genre clues; topic familiarity |
Alexander & Judy.
The interaction of domain-specific and strategic knowledge in academic performance.
Read full review
reading_7-8_62
|
Literature Review |
Strategy: Domain-specific and strategic knowledge in academic performance
Subjects: N/A (literature review)
Results: N/A
|
• Comprehension
– Activating Background
Knowledge
– Think Aloud
|
Study:
Lysynchuk, Pressley, & Vye.
Reciprocal teaching improves standardized reading comprehension performance in poor comprehenders.
Read full review
reading_4-6_26 |
4 |
Strategy: Reciprocal teaching
Subjects: 71 fourth and seventh graders considered to be poor comprehenders in Canada
Results:
| Standardized Comprehension and |
Standardized Vocabulary |
| Fourth Graders+.56 |
+.44 |
| Seventh Graders+.54 |
-.41 |
|
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Strategy Instruction
Grades: 3-5, 6-8
Diverse Learners
Keywords:
reciprocal teaching; questioning: summarizing; predicting |
Study:
McNamara, Kintsch, Songer, Butler & Kintsch.
Are good texts always better? Interactions of text coherence, background knowledge, and levels of understanding in learning from text.
Read full review
reading_7-8_52 |
4 |
Strategy: Construction/Integration Models of Text Comprehension
Subjects: Exp 1: 36 seventh through ninth graders in Boulder, Colorado. Exp 2: 56 seventh through tenth graders
Results: Experiment 1: There are advantages for globally coherent text and for more explanatory text.
Experiment 2: Readers who know little about the domain of the text benefit from a coherent text, whereas the high-knowledge readers benefit from a minimally coherent text. |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Text Structure
– Questioning Strategies
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 7, 8, 9
Keywords:
science; inferences; recall |
Study:
Lenz, K., Alley, G.R, & Schumaker, J. B. (a KU study)
Activating the inactive learner: Advance organizers in the secondary content classroom.
Read full review
reading_ku_178 |
Added
8-10-05
2 |
Strategy: Advance organizers
Subjects: Seven regular secondary content teachers with an age rage of 25 to 37, number of years of teaching experience from 3 to 14 years, and from subjects: American History, English, Physical Science, General Science, Geography, and Biology ($50 incentive).
Seven LD adolescents: two female and five male; six white, one black; age range from 16 to 19; four were sophomores, two were juniors, and one was a senior; IQ ranges from 87 to 109 and reading scores from 4.2 to 7.0; all were resource students ($10 incentive).
Results: When tested orally, students aided by grapic organizers recalled more relevant information. |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Strategy Instruction
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 9-12
Diverse Learners
Keywords: student retention, advance organizers |
Study:
Gernsbacher, Hallada, Robertson.
How automatically do readers infer fictional characters’ emotional states?
Read full review
reading_9-12_152 |
2 |
Strategy: Automatic inferences using divided attention tasks
Subjects: Experiment 1: 880 Native American English speakers participated to receive extra credit in an introductory psychology class.
Experiment 2: 80 Native American English speakers participated to receive cash payment.
Experiment 3: 80 Native American English speakers participated to receive extra credit in an introductory psychology class.
Experiment 4: 92 Native American English speakers participated to receive cash payment.
Results: The experiments support the researchers’ hypothesis that readers activate knowledge about human emotions; they also support that many of the processes and mechanisms involved in reading comprehension are general cognitive processes and mechanisms. |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 9-12, college
Keywords: comprehension, inferencing, characters
|
Study:
Lenz, K., Alley, G.R, & Schumaker, J. B.
Activating the inactive learner: Advance organizers in the secondary content classroom.
Read full review
reading_9-12_178 |
Added
8-10-05
2 |
Strategy: Advance organizers
Subjects: Seven regular secondary content teachers with an age rage of 25 to 37, number of years of teaching experience from 3 to 14 years, and from subjects: American History, English, Physical Science, General Science, Geography, and Biology ($50 incentive).
Seven LD adolescents: two female and five male; six white, one black; age range from 16 to 19; four were sophomores, two were juniors, and one was a senior; IQ ranges from 87 to 109 and reading scores from 4.2 to 7.0; all were resource students ($10 incentive).
Results: Pending |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Strategy Instruction
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 9-12
Diverse Learners
Keywords: student retention, advance organizers |
Study:
Lenz, K., Alley, G.R, & Schumaker, J. B. (a KU study)
Activating the inactive learner: Advance organizers in the secondary content classroom.
Read full review
reading_ku_178 |
Added
8-10-05
2 |
Strategy: Advance organizers
Subjects: Seven regular secondary content teachers with an age rage of 25 to 37, number of years of teaching experience from 3 to 14 years, and from subjects: American History, English, Physical Science, General Science, Geography, and Biology ($50 incentive).
Seven LD adolescents: two female and five male; six white, one black; age range from 16 to 19; four were sophomores, two were juniors, and one was a senior; IQ ranges from 87 to 109 and reading scores from 4.2 to 7.0; all were resource students ($10 incentive).
Results: When tested orally, students aided by grapic organizers recalled more relevant information. |
Reading Topics:
• Comprehension
– Strategy Instruction
– Activating Background Knowledge
Grades: 9-12
Diverse Learners
Keywords: student retention, advance organizers |