My Project

The primary goals of this research are to understand the development of reading comprehension skills in elementary school children and to develop valid and reliable assessment tools for its evaluation. The ability to read, understand, and apply text-based information is essential for school success, employability, and labour force productivity. Despite the need for high levels of literacy to learn discipline-specific content and to master a broad range of subject areas, many children experience difficulty in using reading as a means of learning and applying knowledge. Recently published results from the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (EQAO, 2003) capture the extent of these comprehension problems in young high school students. However, little is known about the nature and the development of reading comprehension for both literary and informational texts. A systematic investigation of core processes and predictors of reading comprehension would provide much-needed scientific information on how comprehension works in children of different ages and backgrounds. Moreover, it would guide the development of assessment tools, instruction methods, and remedial programs for both typically developing and at-risk children.