Synopses & Reviews
Review
"The importance of this timely volume cannot be overstated. It provides an essential counterbalance to the strong emphasis on decoding research that is currently so influential in educational policy. Researchers, students, and professionals from a wide variety of disciplines will find much of value in this very up-to-date and complete volume. Featured are readable summaries of research in particular areas, evidence-based practice guidelines, and clear outlines of future research needs. This is truly an excellent resource."--Anne van Kleeck, PhD, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Georgia
"This book offers a detailed, comprehensive, yet readable presentation of current research-based understandings of effective comprehension instruction, from the initial stages of reading acquisition through college literacy instruction. Chapters from leading scholars demonstrate the complex nature of comprehension and the complex task of teaching students to construct meaning from text. The book provides teacher educators with a solid framework for introducing effective comprehension instruction to teachers-in-training. Working teachers, for their part, will find it a wonderful resource for developing instruction and instructional routines based on up-to-date theory and research."--Timothy Rasinski, PhD, Department of Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies, College and Graduate School of Education, Kent State University
"In this unique volume, Block and Pressley give us comprehension, comprehensively addressed. They have brought together researchers and educators who fundamentally reconceptualized the nature of reading comprehension in the last quarter of the 20th century, as well as those who have elaborated and extended those insights. For teachers and graduate students, here is a robust agenda for effective comprehension development and instruction across a range of developmental levels, genres, formats, contexts, and individual learner characteristics."--Shane Templeton, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Nevada, Reno
"From new looks at familiar topics, such as metacognitive strategies and schema theory, to emerging topics such as comprehension of morals and themes and critical reading, this book brings comprehension instruction fully up to date. Each chapter moves research clearly into practice, so that there is something here for practicing elementary and secondary teachers, for researchers, and for teacher educators and graduate students. I found something new and useful in every chapter."--Steven A. Stahl, EdD, Department of Reading Education, College of Education, The University of Georgia; Codirector, Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA)
Review
"The importance of this timely volume cannot be overstated. It provides an essential counterbalance to the strong emphasis on decoding research that is currently so influential in educational policy. Researchers, students, and professionals from a wide variety of disciplines will find much of value in this very up-to-date and complete volume. Featured are readable summaries of research in particular areas, evidence-based practice guidelines, and clear outlines of future research needs. This is truly an excellent resource."--Anne van Kleeck, PhD, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Georgia
"This book offers a detailed, comprehensive, yet readable presentation of current research-based understandings of effective comprehension instruction, from the initial stages of reading acquisition through college literacy instruction. Chapters from leading scholars demonstrate the complex nature of comprehension and the complex task of teaching students to construct meaning from text. The book provides teacher educators with a solid framework for introducing effective comprehension instruction to teachers-in-training. Working teachers, for their part, will find it a wonderful resource for developing instruction and instructional routines based on up-to-date theory and research."--Timothy Rasinski, PhD, Department of Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies, College and Graduate School of Education, Kent State University
"In this unique volume, Block and Pressley give us comprehension, comprehensively addressed. They have brought together researchers and educators who fundamentally reconceptualized the nature of reading comprehension in the last quarter of the 20th century, as well as those who have elaborated and extended those insights. For teachers and graduate students, here is a robust agenda for effective comprehension development and instruction across a range of developmental levels, genres, formats, contexts, and individual learner characteristics."--Shane Templeton, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Nevada, Reno
"From new looks at familiar topics, such as metacognitive strategies and schema theory, to emerging topics such as comprehension of morals and themes and critical reading, this book brings comprehension instruction fully up to date. Each chapter moves research clearly into practice, so that there is something here for practicing elementary and secondary teachers, for researchers, and for teacher educators and graduate students. I found something new and useful in every chapter."--Steven A. Stahl, EdD, Department of Reading Education, College of Education, The University of Georgia; Codirector, Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA)
"With the plethora of material available where does one begin? I can think of no better place than Comprehension Instruction: Research-Based Best Practices. Here you will find a compilation of essays from forty of the best researchers in the reading-comprehension community. The book will provide you with many 'ah-ha' moments....Here you will find research, insights, inspiration, questions, answers, critical examinations, suggestions, advice, and more. Comprehension Instruction should be on the top of your reading list. Highly recommended."--Education Oasis
"Block and Pressley's book can act as a compass for the profession in teaching comprehension in the 21st century. Comprehension Instruction: Research-Based Best Practices, (Guilford, 2002) is a groundbreaking, 400-page book, presenting crisp summaries of 25 years of comprehension research, by 40 contributing authors, as well as specific questions that need further research."--The teachers.net Gazette
"In this edited work, approximately 40 researchers deal with comprehension from a historical, analytical, and futuristic perspective. The volume tries to answer questions such as: (1) What are some theoretical foundations that will guide educators in a new direction to better and more effectively teach comprehension skills? (2) How can teachers branch out and expand horizons about comprehension in the 21st century? (3) How can comprehension be taught in preschool, primary, and intermediate grades? And, (4) How can educators intensify comprehension instruction throughout middle school, high school, and college?....The volume delineates 25 researched-based best practices for educators who are interested in seeking avenues on how best to teach comprehension. Graduate level and beyond."--Choice
Synopsis
Comprehension instruction is widely recognized as an essential component of developing students' pleasure and profit from reading. Yet despite significant recent gains in knowledge about how comprehension develops and how it can be taught effectively, classroom practice still lags behind research in this crucial area. This volume brings together the field's leading scholars to summarize current research and provide best-practice guidelines for teachers and teacher educators. Each coherently structured chapter 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 include assessment, curriculum, methods, and comprehension difficulties, from the preschool level through high school.
About the Author
Cathy Collins Block, PhD, has served on the graduate faculty of Texas Christian University since 1977. She has taught at Southern Illinois University/n-/Carbondale, served as Research Assistant at the Wisconsin Research and Development Center for Cognitive Development, and taught kindergarten through high school in private and public schools. Dr. Block has directed and served as principal investigator of six nationally funded research projects and has served on the boards of directors of a number of organizations, including the National Center for Research and Training for Learning Disabilities and the National Reading Conference.
Michael Pressley, PhD, who passed away in May 2006, was University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, as well as Director of the Doctoral Program in Teacher Education and Director of the Literacy Achievement Research Center, with both roles part of his professorship in the Department of Teacher Education and the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education. He was an expert on effective elementary literacy instruction, with his research appearing in more than 300 journal articles, chapters, and books. Dr. Pressley served a 6-year term as editor of Journal of Educational Psychology. He was honored with awards from the National Reading Conference, the International Reading Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the American Psychological Association, among others. Dr. Pressley received the 2004 E. L. Thorndike Award from Division 15 of the American Psychological Association, the highest award given for career research accomplishment in educational psychology.
Table of Contents
Contents
1. Introduction, Cathy Collins Block and Michael Pressley
I. Theoretical Foundations: New Directions for the Future
2. Comprehension Strategies Instruction: A Turn-of-the-Century Status Report, Michael Pressley
3. The Case for Direct Explanation of Strategies, Gerald G. Duffy
4. Process-Based Comprehension Instruction: Perspectives of Four Reading Educators, Cathy Collins Block, Joni L. Schaller, Joseph A. Joy, and Paola Gaine
5. Implications of Cognitive Resource Allocation, Gale M. Sinatra, Kathleen J. Brown, and Ralph E. Reynolds
6. Metacognition in Comprehension Instruction, Linda Baker
7. Teaching Reading Self-Assessment Strategies, Peter Afflerbach
II. Branching Out and Expanding Our Horizons in the 21st Century
8. Reading in Web-Based Learning Environments, Hiller A. Spires and Thomas H. Estes
9. Using the Theme Scheme to Improve Story Comprehension, Joanna P. Williams
10. "Oh Excellent, Excellent Question!": Developmental Differences and Comprehension Acquisition, Laura B. Smolkin and Carol A. Donovan
11. Individual Differences That Influence Reading Comprehension, Darcia Narvaez
12. Teaching Readers How to Comprehend Text Strategically, Tom Trabasso and Ed Bouchard
13. Challenges of Implementing Transactional Strategies Instruction for Reading Comprehension, Pamela Beard El-Dinary
III. Comprehension Instruction in Preschool, Primary, and Intermediate Grades
14. Preparing Young Learners for Successful Reading Comprehension: Laying the Foundation, Diane H. Tracey and Lesley Mandel Morrow
15. Building Comprehension When They're Still Learning to Read the Words, Gay Ivey
16. Comprehension Instruction in the Primary Grades, P. David Pearson and Nell K. Duke
17. Beyond Literature Circles: Helping Students Comprehend Informational Texts, Donna Ogle and Camille L. Z. Blachowicz
18. Contexts for Reading Engagement, John T. Guthrie and Sevgi Ozgungor
19. Children Searching and Using Information Text: A Critical Part of Comprehension, Mariam Jean Dreher
20. Imagery: A Strategy for Enhancing Comprehension, Linda B. Gambrell and Patricia S. Koskinen
IV. Intensification of Comprehension Instruction throughout Middle School, High School, and College
21. The Argument Schema and Learning to Reason, Alina Reznitskaya and Richard C. Anderson
22. Straddling Two Worlds: Self-Directed Comprehension Instruction for Middle Schoolers, Rachel Brown
23. Improving the Reading Comprehension of At-Risk Adolescents, Joseph B. Fisher, Jean B. Schumaker, and Donald D. Deshler
24. Encouraging Active Reading at the College Level, Michelle L. Simpson and Sherrie L. Nist
IV. Conclusion
25. Summing Up: What Comprehension Instruction Could Be, Michael Pressley and Cathy Collins Block
Index