Reading Perspective: Can It Improve Middle School Students’ Comprehension of Informational Text?

ABSTRACT

In 2 experiments the authors investigated whether assigning a perspective to middle school students prior to reading a long informational text would improve their reading comprehension. Pretest–posttest control group designs were employed in both experiments, in Experiment 1 (n = 146 fifth- and sixth-grade students) and in Experiment 2 (n = 83 eighth-grade students), where a delayed measure of comprehension was also included. Findings indicated statistically significant learning gains from pre- to posttest regardless of perspective but no differential benefit for perspective assignment on overall comprehension or comprehension of perspective-relevant content. Previous research has demonstrated comprehension benefit for adults assigned a perspective before reading short narrative texts in experimental settings. This work extends reading comprehension research by testing the efficacy of perspective instantiation in 2 samples of middle school learners reading an informational text in a school setting. Findings suggest more research is necessary prior to advocating the use of perspective instantiation in classrooms.

Keywords:

• content area reading
• middle school
• reading comprehension

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Experiment 1 data were presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New Orleans, LA. They were subsequently published as part of a doctoral dissertation (Ramsay, C. M. [2011]. The efficacy of perspective instantiation in improving middle school students’ comprehension of informational text. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. [Accession Order No. 3471835]). Experiment 2 data were presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in San Francisco, CA.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Crystal M. Ramsay

Crystal M. Ramsay is a Research Associate and Instructional Consultant at the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at The Pennsylvania State University. Her primary research interests include reading comprehension strategies among middle school, high school, and college learners; and instructional approaches in higher education.

Rayne A. Sperling

Rayne A. Sperling is an Associate Professor at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research addresses learners’ self-regulation and instructional strategies to support learners’ reading comprehension and problem solving. Her research also explores effective measures of learners’ self-regulation.