Early and targeted interventions are critical in helping these students understand increasingly complex tests, a study finds. Struggling readers in upper elementary grades and beyond can benefit from decoding instruction to help boost their reading proficiency, including comprehension skills, according to a study released Wednesday by two education research organizations.
Without foundational word recognition skills, it can be difficult for struggling older readers to improve their comprehension of grade-level texts, the study by the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund and the Educational Testing Service found.
While basic phonics lessons are crucial in early elementary grades, older students may need continued support with decoding skills as texts get more technical, abstract and complex, said Rebecca Sutherland, co-author of the study and an associate director of research for AERDF’s Reading Reimagined program. AERDF is a nonprofit research and development organization focused on pre-K–12 education.
Early and targeted interventions are critical for helping upper elementary and middle school students understand texts that have increasingly complicated sentences and multisyllabic words, said Sutherland.
Read the rest of the article.
