Research has demonstrated that in controlled experiments in which small groups are being tutored by researchers, reading-strategy instruction is highly effective in fostering reading comprehension (Palincsar & Brown, Cognition and Instruction, 1(2), 1984). It is unclear, however, whether reading-strategy interventions are equally effective in wholeclassroom situations in which the teacher is the sole instructor for the whole class. This metaanalysis focuses on the effects of reading-strategy interventions in whole-classroom settings.

Low‐achieving adolescents are known to have difficulties with reading comprehension. This article discusses how reciprocal teaching can improve low‐achieving adolescents' reading comprehension in whole‐classroom settings (as opposed to small‐group settings) and to what extent intervention effects are dependent on teacher behaviour. Over the course of 1 year, experimental teachers (n = 10) were given extensive training and coaching aimed at using principles of reciprocal teaching, while control teachers (n = 10) used their regular teaching method. Observations of teacher behaviour were focused on instruction of reading strategies, modelling and support of group work and were performed in both experimental and control classes, comprising a total of 369 students (mean age = 13.01). Our study shows that reciprocal teaching contributed to adolescent low achievers' reading comprehension only when experimental teachers provided high‐quality strategy instruction. In addition, results suggest that the quality of implementation of reciprocal teaching in whole‐classroom settings should receive more research attention. Highlights What is already known about this topic Reciprocal teaching is a method of instructing and guiding learners in reading comprehension. It consists of a set of three related instructional principles: (a) teaching comprehension‐fostering reading strategies; (b) expert modelling, scaffolding and fading; and (c) students practising and discussing reading strategies with other students, guided and coached by the teacher. High quality of implementation of reciprocal teaching by teachers in classrooms is difficult. What this paper adds After 1 year of implementing reciprocal teaching, no main effects of the treatment were established. Intervention effects were moderated by quality of instruction: strategy instruction led to higher scores on reading comprehension in the treatment condition but not in the control condition. Implementation of the instructional principles was by no means optimal: teachers were unable to provide detailed guidance to students working in small groups and modelling of strategies requires more experience and theoretical insight in the use and nature of reading strategies. Implications for practice and/or policy Extensive training and coaching are needed for teachers to become experts in reciprocal teaching. Teachers need hands‐on tools to be able to guide students in their collaborative group work and to fade the teachers' role in order to allow more individual self‐regulation by students in their use of strategies. Implementation quality has to be taken into account when doing effectiveness research and when adopting new, theory‐based didactic approaches.

Low-achieving adolescents are known to have difficulties with reading comprehension. This article discusses whether principles of reciprocal teaching can improve low-achieving adolescents' reading comprehension in whole-classroom settings and to what extent treatment effects are dependent on implementation quality. Over the course of two years, experimental teachers (n ¼ 10) were given training and coaching aimed at using principles of reciprocal teaching, while control teachers (n ¼ 10) used their regular teaching method. Observations of teacher implementation were focused on instruction of reading strategies, modeling, and support of group work, and were performed in both experimental and control classes, comprising a total of 238 students (grade 7). The study shows that overall, there is no effect of the treatment on adolescent lowachievers' reading comprehension. Interestingly however, the principle of modeling positively moderated the effect of reciprocal teaching In addition, results suggest that the quality of implementation of reciprocal teaching in whole-classroom settings should receive more attention.

Prior studies suggest that teaching reading strategies promotes reading comprehension in adolescents who have difficulties with reading comprehension, yet the results of those studies are mixed. Individual differences in students’ vocabulary knowledge may explain these mixed results. This article examines to what extent vocabulary knowledge influences the effect of a two-year intervention program focused on teaching reading strategies to adolescents with low academic achievement in the Netherlands. We hypothesized that students (N = 310) with different levels of vocabulary knowledge would respond differently to the treatment, given that vocabulary knowledge is an important factor in reading comprehension. Results showed that vocabulary knowledge moderated the effect of the treatment, suggesting that low vocabulary knowledge negatively affected the impact of an intervention focused on reading strategies. Vocabulary knowledge, thus, emerges as a prerequisite for the successful leveraging of a reading strategy intervention. Students with low vocabulary knowledge may experience cognitive overload when attempting to apply newly learned reading strategies while simultaneously trying to find out the meaning of multiple unfamiliar words needed for successful application of reading strategies.

Chapter 1 General introduction Chapter 2 Effects of reciprocal teaching on reading comprehension of lowachieving adolescents. The importance of specific teacher skills. Chapter 3 Effectiveness of reciprocal teaching for reading comprehension: A two-year study in a whole-classroom setting with low-achieving adolescents. Appendices Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Does vocabulary knowledge matter in the effectiveness of teaching reading strategies? Differential responses from low-achieving adolescents on growth in reading comprehension. Appendices Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Effectiveness of reading-strategy interventions in classrooms: A meta-analysis. Appendices Chapter 5 Chapter 6 General discussion References Samenvatting in het Nederlands Dankwoord (Acknowledgements) About the Author | Publications and Presentations ICO Dissertation Series General introduction 10 ChaPTer 1 14 ChaPTer 1 find evidence for the overall effects of interventions directed at instructing reading strategies on reading comprehension in whole-classroom contexts. To establish the overall effects of instructing reading strategies, a search of the literature published in a period of more than a decade yielded a total of 52 studies, which comprised 125 experimental comparisons, for five different types of dependent variables: standardized tests for reading comprehension, researcher-developed reading comprehension tests, strategic ability, strategy knowledge and self-reported strategy-use. In addition, moderation analyses were performed with the following characteristics: intervention-(e.g. different reading strategies, didactic principles, type of trainer), student-(grade and type of reader), and study-design (type of control group and type of design). These moderation analyses provide information about which of these characteristics may determine the magnitude of intervention effects found.