Advanced story map instruction: Effects on the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities

This multiple baseline study investigated the effectiveness of direct instruction of an advanced story map procedure on the reading comprehension performance of six middle school students with learning disabilities (LD). Results indicated an increase in story grammar and basal comprehension performance by all six students from baseline to the independent phase condition of the intervention. In addition, generalization to a novel passage and maintenance of strategy effects were observed for all students on the story grammar tests and for four students on basal comprehension tests. On story retell measures, results demonstrated an increase in the number of story elements recalled by five students, whereas the number of words, correct word sequence (CWS), thought units (t-units), and sentences included in story retells increased for only two students following the intervention. The consumer satisfaction measure revealed positive results for all students. Limitations of the results and implications for teaching reading comprehension are discussed.