Impact of a Teacher-Led Intervention on Preference for Self-Regulated Learning, Finding Main Ideas in Expository Texts, and Reading Comprehension

We examined the impact of a teacher-led intervention, implemented during regular classroom instruction and homework, on fourth-grade students' preference for self-regulated learning, finding main ideas in expository texts, and reading comprehension. In our quasi-experimental study with intact classrooms, (a) students (n = 266, 12 classrooms) who received regular classroom instruction (REG) were compared with (b) students (n = 268, 12 classrooms) who were taught text reduction strategies (TEXT) and (c) students (n = 229, 9 classrooms) who were introduced to text reduction strategies within the framework of a 7-step cyclical model of self-regulated learning (SRL = TEXT). Participating classrooms were semi-randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 conditions, with the restriction that teachers from one school could not be in different intervention conditions. Both in their posttest and follow-up test results (11 weeks after the intervention), SRL + TEXT students showed a stronger preference for self-regulated learning than students of the 2 other groups. The SRL + TEXT students also identified more main ideas over the course of the intervention. Positive effects on reading comprehension in a standardized test were restricted to students without migration background.