*Thinking Skills

This project paper described a program for increasing reading comprehension. The targeted population consisted of sixth grade students at River Bend Elementary School in a middle class community located in western Illinois. The problem of a steady decline in reading comprehension was documented by the Illinois Goals Assessment Program, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, curriculum reading tests, and teacher's observation. Analysis of probable cause data revealed that students lacked self esteem, chose to watch television instead of read, and did not value education; curriculum content is new and untested; teaching styles have not met learning styles; at-risk students have been transferring to the school from within the district; grade level expectations have been lowered; parents lack interest in their child's education; and teachers reported that students do not apply reading strategies independently and read less frequently in their spare time. Professional consensus revealed that students do not implement comprehensio