Graphic organizers and their effects on the reading comprehension of students with LD: A synthesis of research

Previous research studies examining the effects of graphic organizers on reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities (LD) are reviewed. An extensive search of the professional literature between 1963 and June 2001 yielded a total of 21 group design in-tervention studies that met the criteria for inclusion in the synthesis. Using graphic organizers (i.e., semantic organizers, framed outlines, cognitive maps with and without a mnemonic) was associated with improved reading comprehension overall for students with LD. Com-pared to standardized reading measures, researcher-developed comprehension measures were associated with higher effect sizes. Initial gains demonstrated when using graphic organizers were not revealed during later comprehension tasks or on new comprehension tasks. Graphic organizers are visual andspatial displays designed to fa-cilitate the teaching and learn-ing of textual material through the “use of lines, arrows, and a spatial arrange-ment that describe text content, struc-ture, and key conceptual relationships” (Darch & Eaves, 1986, p. 310). Graphic organizers include semantic maps, se-mantic feature analysis, cognitive maps, story maps, framed outlines, and Venn diagrams. Ausubel (1963) originally rational-ized the use of graphic organizers by speculating that a learner’s existing knowledge, which he referred to as cognitive structure, greatly influences his or her learning. When the cognitive structure expands and strengthens by incorporating new information, learn-ing occurs. To facilitate this process, graphic organizers provide learners with a meaningful framework for re-lating their existing knowledge to th