The Power of “Both/And”: Bringing Together Knowledge and Strategies in Reading Comprehension Instruction

In today’s conversations about the Science of Reading, there has been a significant focus on the role of prior knowledge in comprehension. Popular books, social media threads and podcasts, infographics (like the Reading Rope), and publisher-made instructional materials reinforce the importance of knowledge. Undoubtedly, higher levels of knowledge enable readers to better understand text.

Knowledge vs. Comprehension Strategies

With such an emphasis on knowledge, long-standing comprehension strategies have been sidelined. And as is often the case in education, these conversations have become increasingly polarized: in one corner of the boxing ring is knowledge, and in the other is comprehension strategy instruction.

Comprehension must take a both/and approach: students need both prior knowledge and purposeful comprehension strategy instruction to successfully understand text.

A Both/And Approach to Reading Comprehension

It’s time to put down our gloves and recognize that knowledge and strategies are not diametrically opposed. Rather, comprehension must take a both/and approach: students need both prior knowledge and purposeful comprehension strategy instruction to successfully understand text.

Looking Beyond Background Knowledge

Let’s first unpack what we intentionally refer to as “prior knowledge.” Prior knowledge can be defined as “the sum of individuals’ existing knowledge, including personal, domain, topic, strategic, social, cultural, and linguistic knowledge” (Hatan & Lupo, 2020). While background knowledge tends to be more domain-specific, prior knowledge is more comprehensive than what students know about an academic subject — also including knowledge that is grounded in their homes, cultures, languages, and experiences. Prior knowledge predicts comprehension — for both monolingual and emerging bilingual learners (Davis et al., 2017) and contributes to reading growth (Hwang et al., 2023). But prior knowledge alone isn’t enough. A 2020 study showed that brief instruction about an unfamiliar topic did not support kindergarteners’ comprehension during a read-aloud.

Three Strategies That Make a Difference

So what moves the needle for students’ comprehension? A meaningful integration of prior knowledge and intentional comprehension strategies — as revealed in a recent meta-analysis (Peng et al., 2024). Let’s first focus on the high-leverage strategies that truly improve comprehension:

1. Recognizing Text Structure
   When students can identify signal words that provide clues about the organizational structure of a text, their comprehension improves.
2. Summarizing Key Ideas
   Students who can differentiate between essential and non-essential ideas in a text and then logically connect them — as in a summary — have a better understanding of the core tenets of a text.
3. Making Inferences
   Because every text requires readers to deduce intended meanings, inferencing is essential for readers’ understanding.

Bringing Strategies to Life in the Classroom

When we stop pitting comprehension strategies against knowledge, we can pick up authentic children’s literature to model how readers make meaning from text. We can read aloud from a variety of narrative and informational texts to expose students to text structures, pointing out signal words, and using graphic organizers to depict text organization. We can model main ideas through sentence stems that jumpstart students’ summarizations, such as: “The most important idea in this paragraph is…” and “In summary, the author wants me to understand that …” As we read to students, we can integrate think-alouds — first person “I language” to model the invisible metacognitive maneuvers that we — as proficient readers — employ. A simple “The author doesn’t come right out and tell me, but I’m getting the sense that …” empowers students to make inferences of their own.

31% of elementary school teachers requested additional resources and training to support students’ reading comprehension.

The Path Forward: Integrating Knowledge and Strategy

Too many students today struggle with comprehension, and too many teachers are clamoring for practical ways to support them. A 2024 survey revealed that 31% of elementary school teachers requested additional resources and training to support students’ reading comprehension (Shapiro, Sutherland, & Kaufman, 2024). The time is ripe for us to step back from our respective and seemingly oppositional corners and embrace a both/and approach to support teachers and students with the complexity of comprehension. Simply put, comprehension instruction is most effective when strategy and knowledge are taught together.

Dig Deeper: On-Demand Webinars and Whitepaper

Ready to learn more about this approach to reading comprehension with Dr. Molly Ness? Sign up to watch the recording of her two-part webinar series on-demand. You’ll also get access to her whitepaper: How to Integrate Strategy Instruction and Background Knowledge: A Both/And Approach.

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Resources:

Davis, Marcia H., et al. “The Influence of Knowledge on Reading Comprehension: Examining Monolingual and Emerging Bilingual Learners.” Reading Research Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 4, 2017, pp. 403–417.

Hattan, Christopher, and Suzanne Lupo. “Prior Knowledge and Reading Comprehension.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 63, no. 4, 2020, pp. 423–431.

Hwang, Hyejin, et al. “The Role of Knowledge in Reading Growth: Evidence from Longitudinal Studies.” Scientific Studies of Reading, vol. 27, no. 2, 2023, pp. 115–132.

Peng, Peng, et al. “Meta-Analysis of Reading Comprehension Interventions: Integrating Knowledge and Strategy Instruction.” Review of Educational Research, vol. 94, no. 1, 2024, pp. 1–35.

Shapiro, Amy, et al. “Teacher Needs for Reading Comprehension Support: Findings from a National Survey.” Education Policy Analysis Archives, vol. 32, no. 5, 2024, pp. 1–20.