The Effective Classroom

This study examines the effectiveness of Reciprocal Teaching during social studies instruction in fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade inclusive classrooms (N.128) in a rural school system in New Mexico. Reciprocal teaching is a method of scaffolded instruction that has been demonstrated to improve reading comprehension in students of various ability levels. Experimental and control classrooms at each grade level contained approximately the same number of students with learning disabilities. Comprehension assessments were administered at baseline and once weekly thereafter for a total of four measures. Results indicated that students in the experimental groups improved their performance on comprehension measures more than students in the control group. This improvement continued to be displayed after 30 days in both the sixth and fourth grades. The data also suggest that students with learning disabilities improved their ability to compose summaries as compared to the control students. (EH) * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document.