Reading Comprehension Instruction in Grades 4, 5, and 6: Program Characteristics; Teacher Perceptions; Teacher Behaviors; and Student Performance.

A three-part study was conducted to present an indepth look at reading comprehension instruction in the middle grades. In the first part of the study, four basal series for grades 4, 5, and 6, were analyzed for clarity of communication, adequacy of skill practice provided, and a number of other comprehension related dimensions. In the second part, 17 teachers were videotaped as they taught two comprehension topic areas and were interviewed to get their perceptions of the texts they used and of their students' mastery of the material taught. These results were compared with those obtained from a larger sample of teachers who completed questionnaires. The third part of the study examined student achievement for the observed teachers on criterion-referenced tests designed to assess what was taught. Overall results indicated that (1) the text presentations were inadequate in terms of their instructional design features, (2) the teachers did not improve upon the texts, (3) teacher perceptions of how well they taught and how much their students learned were inaccurate, and (4) only 55% of the students learned 50% of the comprehension skills presented. (FL)