Evaluating the Impact of a Reciprocal Teaching Intervention for Learners with Diverse Reading Abilities in the Upper Primary Phase

Teaching children to comprehend what they read successfully is a fundamental goal of education. This small-scale action research evaluates the impact of a Reciprocal Teaching (RT) intervention for 31 Year 6 learners in a mainstream school, challenging assumptions about the intervention’s inclusivity for all groups of learners. Initially developed by Palincsar & Brown (1984), RT is based on the principle that comprehension- fostering and comprehension-monitoring strategies are developed within a socially constructed learning environment to improve reading outcomes. A review of the literature recognises its significant impact for readers with adequate decoding skills but who are poor comprehenders. However, evidence of RT within heterogeneous settings remains inconclusive, especially in the UK where it is recently emerging as a teaching method. After suggesting that reading comprehension goes beyond the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986), this study explores RT’s potential for improving the comprehension skills of two further groups of learners: typically developing readers (TD) and readers with poor decoding and comprehension skills, referred to as poor-in-both (PIB). A pragmatic, mixed-methods framework was adopted to integrate qualitative data from an observation of learners’ interactions with data from standardised reading assessments and learner questionnaires. The findings, presented thematically, suggest that while TD learners frequently and proficiently applied reading strategies following the intervention, modest improvements to their comprehension scores were found. In contrast, PC and PIB increased their comprehension scores significantly. The contribution of social interactions in the findings, including dialogue, scaffolding, and self-efficacy, towards co-constructed comprehension is discussed in relation to prior research around RT and three action steps are outlined to inform future practice. By utilising qualitative methods, this study contributes to an understanding of the social constructivist principles of RT in action, although it is recommended that RT should be adapted to meet individual learners’ needs in the future.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Viney, Michael

• L Addysg (Cyffredinol)
• LB Theori ac arfer addysg
• LB1501 Addysg Gynradd

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:2929