Leveraging the Alignment of Reading Comprehension Instruction Across Core and Intervention

Scholars have posed several explanations for the limited progress in improving reading comprehension outcomes for students with reading difficulties (RD), including inadequate measurement, the complex nature of reading comprehension, underdeveloped vocabulary and background knowledge, and the lack of theory-informed instruction. We provide another possible explanation: the lack of aligned reading practices across settings. This article describes an approach to aligning reading comprehension practices (e.g., building background knowledge, explicit vocabulary instruction, generating main idea statements) across tiers (i.e., core and intervention), which includes using the same strategies, instructional language, and pacing. This alignment supports students with RD to engage in intentional practice opportunities across reading experiences, thereby supporting generalization, skill transfer, and successful learning from text. We describe prior research on aligning reading comprehension instruction and provide a detailed example of this alignment from Project ALIGN. We conclude by providing considerations for future research and implications for educators.