
Welcome to part 3 of 3 of this mini-series on thinking about comprehension. Strategy instruction is a key component of many classrooms, what what does research indicate about its effectiveness? Check out this episode to find out!

Comprehension Strategies: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Bridging literacy research and practice.  Hosted by Jake Downs.

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You’ve probably heard about syntax. Maybe you’ve seen a slide in a presentation that showed a strand of rope labeled as syntax. Or perhaps you learned about sentence structure in school and completed assignments where you had to diagram sentences. But do we really know what syntax is, why it matters, and how to teach it?



My guests today are here teach us about syntax. Their names are Dr. Rachel Knecht and Dr. Dianna Townsend. Rachel Knecht is a doctoral candidate at the University of Nevada-Reno. Her research focuses on supporting adolescents’ reading comprehension, particularly through metalinguistic development. Dianna Townsend is Professor of Literacy Studies in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada-Reno. Dr. Townsend researches the academic language development of adolescent students, specifically focusing on vocabulary, comprehension, and disciplinary texts.



Plenty of take aways in this episode!



Text Discussed in Episode: 



A famed pharaoh of the new period was Amenhotep IV, who triggered a religious revolution. Before Amenhotep’s rule, Egypt was a polytheistic society that believed in many gods, the most important named Amon. But, Amenhotep believed only in Aton, the sun god. Belief in only one god (monotheism) was a radical notion. To show his devotion to Aton, the pharaoh changed his name to Akenhaton (“he who is loyal to Aton”). Akenhaton moved his capital from Thebes, where Amon was worshiped, to Tell el Amanrna.



References



Knecht, R., Larson, L., & Townsend, D. (2023). Exploring teacher and student knowledge of sentence-level language features. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 66(6), 344–354. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1290



Townsend, D., Knecht, R., Lupo, S., Chen, L.-T., & Barrios, V. S. (2023). A mixed-methods investigation of third and sixth graders’ academic sentence knowledge. Journal of World Languages, 9(3), 333–370. https://doi.org/10.1515/jwl-2023-0022

E51|Syntax: From Epilinguistic to Metalinguistic Awareness with Dr. Rachel Knecht and Dr. Dianna Townsend


Teaching reading comprehension is a challenging task. There are many different aspects to teaching reading comprehension and doing it well is a feat. 



My guests for this episode are here to help us teach reading comprehension better. Their names are Kristin Conradi Smith, Tamara Williams, and Ellen Frackelton. In this episode we cover what the NRP reported about reading strategies, where the implementation of that research went awry, frameworks for the thinking about productive text comprehension instruction, and practices that can be used before, during and after reading to support student understanding of text.



Kristen Conradi Smith is an associate professor in the School of Education at William & Mary. Tamara Williams is a clinical assistant professor at William & Mary, and Ellen Frackelton is a reading specialist in Williamsburg James City Schools in Williamsburg, Virginia.



Reference:



Conradi Smith, K., Williams, T. W., & Frackelton, E. P. (2024). “No More Strategy of the Week”: Considerations for Connecting Comprehension Instruction Back to the Book. The Reading Teacher, 77(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2261

E50 | Text Comprehension in the Classroom with Dr. Kristin Conradi Smith, Tamara Williams, and Ellen Frackelton


What is the relationship between teachers’ knowledge, belief, self-efficacy, and instructional practice? My guest today studied 34 rural teachers to learn more. Her name is Dr. Karen Kehoe and she is the Director of Dyslexia Services at the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia at Middle Tennessee State University.In this episode we discuss what the sample of teacher knew about teaching reading, how confident they felt about teaching reading, and the evidence-based practices exhibited in these classrooms. Lots to unpack with many important takeaways for the classroom!



Reference:Kehoe, K. F., & McGinty, A. S. (2024). Exploring teachers’ reading knowledge, beliefs and instructional practice. Journal of Research in Reading, 47(1), 63–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12440

E49 | Teacher Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, and Practice with Dr. Karen Kehoe


The last few years, it seems everyone’s been talking about phonemic awareness – what works best, how to teach it right, and even how much of it students really need. Today, I’ve got two experts with me, Dr. Florina Erbeli and Dr. Marianne Rice, and they’ve been digging deep into these questions and more.Dr. Erbeli is an assistant professor at Texas A&M; University, and Dr. Marianne Rice just completed her PhD there.In this episode, we’re breaking down the findings from two recent meta-analyses these researchers did on phonemic awareness. We’re getting into the nitty-gritty – like, does it work better in big groups or small ones? Do those letters really matter when you’re teaching phonemic awareness? How much PA instruction do students really need? And, of course, we discuss deleting and substitution. Lots to unpack in this episode!



References:Erbeli, F., Rice, M., Xu, Y., Bishop, M. E., & Goodrich, J. M. (2024). A Meta-Analysis on the Optimal Cumulative Dosage of Early Phonemic Awareness Instruction. Scientific Studies of Reading, 0(0), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2024.2309386Rice, M., Erbeli, F., Thompson, C. G., Sallese, M. R., & Fogarty, M. (2022). Phonemic Awareness: A Meta-Analysis for Planning Effective Instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 57(4), 1259–1289. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.473

E48| Phonemic Awareness: Unpacking Recent Meta-Analysis Findings with Dr. Florina Erbeli and Dr. Marianne Rice


Welcome to another episode of TLP! In this episode, we discuss assessments— their cost, time, and accuracy. Two guests, Dr. Courtenay Barrett and Dr. Adrea Truckenmiller, partnered with a school to explore these questions. Dr. Barrett is an assistant professor in the school psychology program at Michigan State University, and Dr. Truckenmiller is an  associate professor in special education at Michigan State, recently published a journal article comparing the costs and  accuracy of different reading screening approaches in elementary schools.



They collaborated with a school that used three assessments in third grade: the Star Assessment, Acadience Assessment, and Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System. Their goal was to identify which assessment or combination best predicted outcomes on the end-of-year state assessment and determine the specific cutoff scores indicating passing. Additionally, they calculated the monetary and time costs for each assessment’s implementation.



There is a lot to unpack in this episode!

Comprehension Strategies: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

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