Additional information
| Cover | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Dimensions (W) | 8 1/2" |
| Dimensions (H) | 11" |
| Page Count | 73 |
| Publisher | CRL |
| Year Printed | 1984 |
| Other Materials Needed | Graded Reading Passages |
| Requirements |
Paraphrasing Strategy: Instructor’s Manual
Jean B. SchumakerPegi H. Denton
Donald D. Deshler
One good way listeners can make sure they understand what they hear is to repeat it in their own words. The same thing holds true with what is read: readers can make sure they really understand the information they read by translating it into their own words.
When they use the Paraphrasing Strategy, students do just that; they read a part of a passage, identify the main idea and details, and then put them in their own words. By repeating these three steps over and over as they read an expository passage, sale students ensure that they are active in the reading process and are checking their understanding of the information. Most students can gain an average of three or four grade levels in reading comprehension if the
Prerequisites: The instruction is best suited for students reading at or above the fourth-grade level. Instruction in the Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing prior to Paraphrasing Strategy instruction should be helpful for students because, during that instruction, students learn basic skills needed for using the Paraphrasing Strategy. In addition, teaching the Word Identification Strategy before this strategy can be very helpful to students with regard to helping them use this strategy on grade-level materials.
Description
Research on the Paraphrasing Strategy
Study 1
Overview
This study investigated the effects of instruction in the Paraphrasing Strategy. Six students with LD in grades 10 through 12 were taught using the eight-stage instructional methodology for strategy instruction. A multiple-baseline across-students design was used to demonstrate experimental control. Students were instructed to stop at five points while they were reading each passage. At each point, they were asked to tell the researcher about what they had read. The student’s response was scored as an accurate paraphrase according to a set of written guidelines. In addition, the students took a comprehension test over the content of the passage on the day after reading each passage. The passages were written at each student’s ability level and other passages were written at the student’s grade level.
Results
The results showed that all the students mastered applying the Paraphrasing Strategy. As the number of points they earned on paraphrases increased, the percentage of questions answered correctly on the comprehension test also increased. The students required an average of four practice attempts to reach the mastery criterion (80% correct) on ability level passages. During baseline, the students earned a mean of 0% of the paraphrasing points available for paraphrases constructed on both ability-level and grade-level passages. Also during baseline, they answered a mean of 52% of the questions correctly over ability-level passages and a mean of 49.5% of the questions correctly over grade-level passages. After instruction, they earned a mean of 71% of the paraphrasing points available and answered a mean of 86% of the questions correctly over ability-level passages. They earned a mean of 71% of the paraphrasing points available and answered 84% of the questions correctly over grade-level passages. The students were reading, on average, at the 5.9 grade level (range = 3.8 to 7.7) when they began the study. At the end of the study, they were performing the strategy and earning an average comprehension score of 84% on passages written, on average, at the 10.5 grade level.
Conclusions
Thus, this study showed that students could master the Paraphrasing Strategy and that as their paraphrasing scores increased, their comprehension scores increased. In addition, they were able to earn average comprehension scores above the 80% level on passages written at their grade level after instruction. They improved an average of five grade levels with regard to reading comprehension of criterion-based passages.
References
Schumaker, J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (1992). Validation of learning strategy interventions for students with LD: Results of a programmatic research effort. In B. Y. L. Wong (Ed.), Intervention research with students with learning disabilities (pp. 22 – 46). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Study 2
Overview
In this study, the Paraphrasing Strategy and the Self-Questioning Strategy were taught to a 9th-grade English class containing 23 students. A comparison class contained 25 students. Three students with disabilities, three high-achieving students, and three low-achieving students within each class served as targeted subjects for a multiple-probe across-strategies design. Thus, a comparison-group design was combined with a multiple-probe design so that individual student results could be highlighted as well as group results. The students in the experimental class received instruction in the strategies through the use of the eight-stage instructional methodology for teaching strategies combined with cooperative-group structures. Students in the comparison class received traditional English class instruction. Measures included a measure of the performance of each strategy and a comprehension measure.
Results
The results showed that the students with LD and low-achieving students in the two classes were somewhat comparable at the beginning of the study. With regard to the percentage of correct paraphrased statements, students with LD and low achievers earned average scores of 50% and 40% in the experimental class and 48% and 35% in the comparison class, respectively. The class as a whole earned an average paraphrasing score of 50% in the experimental class and 47% in the comparison class.
All the targeted students in the experimental class mastered both strategies after the instruction as shown by the multiple-probe design. With regard to paraphrasing, the experimental students with LD and low achievers earned mean scores of 80% and 90%, respectively. All experimental students earned a mean paraphrasing score of 90%. The comparison students with LD and low achievers earned mean scores of 60% and 50%, respectively. The mean score for all the comparison students was 40%.
Mean comprehension scores on criterion-referenced tests also increased for the experimental students. For example, the mean comprehension score for the experimental students with LD on grade-level materials increased from 24% to 70%; for experimental low achievers, it increased from 30% to 70%. For all experimental students, it increased from 50% to 70%. The only group to make gains in comprehension in the comparison class was the low-achieving group. Their mean comprehension score on grade-level materials increased from 48% to 60%.
Conclusions
Thus, this study showed that reading strategies can be taught in an inclusive general education high-school class in such a way that students make substantial gains in their reading skills and comprehension. Nevertheless, these results were achieved when the eight-stage strategic instructional methodology was used, and students had multiple opportunities to practice using each strategy. They also received help and feedback from peers in their cooperative groups. The cooperative-group structure was designed in such a way that the students would help and encourage each other to master each strategy (i.e., points were awarded to individuals according to how well all members of the group performed on the strategies).
References
Beals, V. L. (1983). The effects of large-group instruction on the acquisition of specific learning strategies by learning disabled adolescents. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Kansas, Lawrence.
About the Author
Jean B. Schumaker, Ph.D.
Affliations
- President
- Edge Enterprises, Inc.
- Lawrence, KS
- Retired Associate Director and Senior Research Scientist
- Certified SIM Professional Development Specialist
- University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning
- Lawrence, KS
- Professor Emeritus
- Department of Special Education
- University of Kansas
- Lawrence, KS
My Background and Interests
I grew up with a concern for children who need special help. One of my earliest experiences was organizing birthday parties for children with disabilities at the Matheny Medical and Educational Center in New Jersey. After the birthday parties were over and all the decorations had been cleaned up, I spent additional time with those children, putting them to bed, reading to and talking with them, and singing to them. Through those experiences and others as a camp counselor, I found that I loved being with children and teaching them. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to be a clinical psychologist, and I went to college and graduate school with that goal in mind. However, along the way, I got hooked on doing research! In particular, I got hooked on research related to ensuring that children learn. I’ve worked with children in schools, group homes, camps, hospitals, and clinical settings. Across all those experiences, I’ve learned that all children can learn. I’ve learned that, if we hold high expectations for them and use special teaching methods, they usually meet those expectations. I continue to do research with the goal of helping teachers teach and students learn.
The Story Behind the Paraphrasing Strategy
At the beginning of our work at the Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities in the 1970s, we did a descriptive study where we tested the academic skills of two groups of students at the junior high and high school levels: students who had been diagnosed as having learning disabilities (LD), and students who were receiving failing or barely passing grades on their report cards in subject-area classes (low-achievers). We learned that both groups of students had severe reading deficits. The students with LD were reading on average at the fourth-grade level in seventh grade. The low achievers were reading on average at the fifth-grade level in seventh grade. What was even more distressing is that these groups of students did not make progress in reading skills across the remaining grade levels. As twelfth graders, the students with LD were still reading at the fourth-grade level, and the low achievers were still reading at the fifth-grade level on average.
Our research team was charged with developing instructional materials that could be used to improve dramatically the reading skills of these students within a relatively short period of time. As a result, we designed and empirically tested the effects of a number of instructional packages for teaching students cognitive reading comprehension strategies. The Paraphrasing Strategy was specifically designed with the goal of improving student comprehension of expository text. The strategy is comprised of a number of cognitive steps that students can use to find the main ideas and details in text and translate that information into their own words. Research has shown that as students become more proficient at paraphrasing the information, their comprehension and retention of information improves commensurately.
My Thoughts about Strategic Reading Instruction
Strategic instruction is one of the few instructional methods that have been shown to be effective through empirical research to produce improvement in the learning and academic performance of at-risk students. The study conducted on the Paraphrasing Strategy showed that students can gain several grade levels in reading comprehension within a few weeks of instruction when the strategy is taught with fidelity. Thus, instruction in this strategy can be used to “close the gap” between students’ skills and what they are required to do in their required secondary courses. This is an instructional package that can be used in triage situations where secondary students need to learn reading skills quickly so that they can succeed in required high school courses. An important caution is that Paraphrasing Strategy instruction produces the best results when the strategy is taught to small groups of students and when students are required to meet mastery within materials written at the students’ grade level. If students need to learn prerequisite skills for the Paraphrasing Strategy, the Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing program is recommended.
Teacher and Student Feedback on the Paraphrasing Strategy Program
This program and the other reading strategy programs have been very popular with both teachers and students. Literally tens of thousands of teachers have learned to teach the Paraphrasing Strategy across the nation, and they have reported that students’ reading skills have improved dramatically. Teachers have used the program successfully in a variety of settings including resource rooms, reading classes, tutoring settings, summer school programs, and after-school programs.
My Contact Information
Please contact me through Edge Enterprises, Inc.
(jschumaker@edgeenterprisesinc.com or 877-767-1487).
