Basal reader instruction: Effects of comprehension monitoring training on reading comprehension, strategy use and attitude

Abstract The efficacy of a metacognitive instructional strategy for use with basal readers in improving reading comprehension, strategy use, and attitude toward reading was investigated. Thirty‐one children in two fourth‐grade classrooms served as subjects in the experiment. Twenty students in a self‐contained classroom served as the treatment group while eleven students in a second self‐contained classroom served as the control. All subjects in both groups were administered the Metropolitan Achievement Test, Reading Attitude Inventory, and the Index of Reading Awareness in September prior to the treatment and again at the end of the treatment the following May. The experimental treatment was based on the instructional strategies proposed by Schmitt and Baumann (1986) that describe how teachers can incorporate the use of comprehension monitoring strategies into the guided reading phase of basal reader instruction. Results indicated that children can be taught how to use metacognitive reading strategies and techniques during basal reader instruction. Average fourth‐grade readers who received metacognitive skills training had greater reading comprehension, greater knowledge about reading strategies, and more positive attitudes toward reading than children in the control group.