Reading next—A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy: A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York (2nd ed.

Reading Next: A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy

(2004). Self-Efficacy: A Key to Improving the Motivation of Struggling Learners. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas: Vol. 77, No. 6, pp. 241-249.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/info/30190019

Self-Efficacy: A Key to Improving the Motivation of Struggling Learners.

Current models of self-regulated learning emphasize the pervasive need for metacognitive monitoring skills at all phases of the learning process (Winne and Hadwin in Studying as self-regulated learning. In D. J. Hacker, J. Dunlosky, & A. C. Graesser (Eds.), Metacognition in educational theory and practice (pp. 227–304). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1998). In this investigation, we examined the impact of teaching 5th grade students how to self-monitor their comprehension and make confidence judgments. One treatment class (N = 21) engaged in process-oriented comprehension monitoring training while the other (N = 24) engaged in both comprehension monitoring training and response-oriented monitoring accuracy training. Findings revealed that students in both treatment classes improved their calibration accuracy and showed higher confidence on test performance than students in two comparison classes (N = 47, N = 26) after 2 weeks of instruction. However, students in the monitoring accuracy training class also showed significant gains in overconfidence in comparison to those in the other three classes. Implications for integrating comprehension-monitoring training at the elementary school level are discussed.

Using strategy instruction and confidence judgments to improve metacognitive monitoring

The authors evaluated the effectiveness of explicit reading comprehension strategies instruction, followed by practice in teacher-led whole-class activities (STRAT), reciprocal same-age (STRAT + SA) peer-tutoring activities, or cross-age peer-tutoring activities (STRAT + CA) on 2nd and 5th graders' reading comprehension and self-efficacy perceptions. For 2nd graders, multilevel analyses revealed significant STRAT and STRAT + CA effects; however, the effects did not last after finishing the program. Fifth graders in all 3 experimental conditions performed significantly better on the posttest than their control group peers. Results also showed continued growth for the STRAT and STRAT + CA conditions until at least 6 months after students finished the program. Moreover, on both the posttest and retention test, 5th graders in the STRAT + CA condition reported significantly fewer negative thoughts related to their reading proficiency.

Effects of Explicit Reading Strategies Instruction and Peer Tutoring on Second and Fifth Graders' Reading Comprehension and Self-Efficacy Perceptions

This article presents a practical plan for improving reading comprehension and reader self-efficacy through transactional strategies instruction. Three phases of instruction are described and specific instructional strategies are provided. Suggestions for implementation and for evaluation of instruction effectiveness are also discussed. The information is applicable for teachers of learners in Grades 4 through12 and for resource teachers or clinicians working with learners having comprehension difficulties.

Bess A. Isom

Papers

Creating Confident and Competent Readers: Transactional Strategies Instruction.