1. Increasing Reading Comprehension in Content Area Classes

2. Problem Statement Middle and secondary level students have difficulty comprehending and/or organizing information in grade level readings. Their understanding of content is hindered because they seek only to find specific answers to factual questions and resist efforts to get them to organize or comprehend more subtle meanings. Their learning, therefore, seems superficial and/or fleeting.

3. Evidence of Problem According to the 2005 reading report card, 29% of the nation’s eighth graders and 20% of twelfth graders cannot read at a basic level (NCES, 2005). “Researchers have found that when students enter the middle school grades, they are generally not proficient in reading the abstract materials found in textbooks… the reading and language demands placed on students are intense but are not generally addressed in teachers' lesson planning” (Ciardiello, A., 2002, p.36).

4. Solutions “Comprehension instruction is geared toward students multiple strategies that will allow them to develop a sense of conscious control of their cognitive processes, that is, self-regulation (Pressley, 2000; Roehler & Duffy, 1991)” (Alfassi, p. 171). Direct instruction/modeling of reading strategies Concept-based instruction Activation of prior knowledge

5. Research Plan Non-equivalent control group Pre/Post test Open-ended survey A M T M S B M M S Rationale: Easily implemented in a classroom setting by any content area teacher

6. Problems/Threats to Validity Treatment diffusion and/or compensatory equivalence Testing—objectivity of scoring Fidelity of implementation

7. References Alfassi, M. (2004). Reading to learn: Effects of Combined strategy instruction on high school students. Journal of Educational Research, v97, p171. Ciardiello, V. A. (Jan/Feb 2002). Helping Adolescents Understand Cause/Effect Text Structure in Social Studies. Social Studies,93(1), p31-37. National Center for Education Statistics. (2006). The Nation’s Report Card. Retrieved July 12, 2006, from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/