Instructional Makeover: Supporting the Reading Comprehension of Students With Learning Disabilities in a Discussion-Based Format

Abstract

Comprehension instruction for students with learning disabilities (LD) is explored from three perspectives, all within the framework of engaging students in meaningful conversations about text with their general education peers. First, excerpts from lesson transcripts are provided to illustrate one special educator’s emphasis on student-generated questions about text, a comprehension strategy highlighted by the National Reading Panel. This same instruction is next considered from the viewpoint of the research base in special education to integrate principles of explicit instruction. Finally, student-generated questioning is presented from a third perspective not typically seen in special and general education: making transparent the relationships between comprehension strategies and active reading. Guided practice with tasks such as developing questions is unlikely to build the comprehension skills of struggling readers without explicit connections to the task of making meaning while reading text.