Any teacher who has ever worked with students who struggle with reading knows how frustrating it can be to help them become better readers, both for you and for them. We teach them strategies such as recognizing main ideas, making connections, making predictions, and understanding text structures. We often think that the more strategies, the better. But does that really work?

A recent analysis by Peng et al., which I found via Best Evidence in Brief, investigated which reading strategies really make a difference for students with reading difficulties. The researchers used an advanced method (Bayesian network meta-analysis, I’ll be honest: pretty new to me) to analyze data from 52 studies of students from 3rd grade through 10th grade. They discovered something surprising.

First, the research shows that learning more strategies does not automatically lead to better reading performance. Students can even become overtaxed if they use too many strategies simultaneously. So it is not a matter of ‘the more, the better’. Instead, it is about the right combination.

Which combination works best? The research shows that learning three strategies together—recognizing main ideas, gaining insight into text structures, and retelling texts—would be most effective. These three reinforce each other and ensure that students can process and remember the information more easily. Thus, they reduce the cognitive load during reading.

Another important discovery is that reading strategies only really come into their own when they are combined with – there it is again – background knowledge. Students need this knowledge to be able to use reading strategies effectively. They will continue to struggle without sufficient background knowledge, no matter how well they know the strategies.

These findings also call into question the idea that a single strategy makes the difference. Instead, the research confirms what many may have secretly sensed: good reading instruction requires a smart, targeted approach in which the focus is not on the number but on the right combination of strategies.

What does this mean in practice? Teachers do not need to offer endless strategies, but can make a more targeted choice. By focusing on the main idea, text structure and retelling, combined with attention to background knowledge, reading can become easier, less frustrating and at the same time more successful for students with reading difficulties.

Abstract of the article :

Based on 52 studies with samples mostly from English-speaking countries, the current study used Bayesian network meta-analysis to investigate the intervention effectiveness of different reading comprehension strategy combinations on reading comprehension among students with reading difficulties in 3rd through 12th grade. We focused on commonly researched strategies: main idea, inference, text structure, retell, prediction, self-monitoring, and graphic organizers. Results showed (1) instruction of more strategies did not necessarily have stronger effects on reading comprehension; (2) there was no single reading comprehension strategy that produced the strongest effect; (3) main idea, text structure, and retell, taught together as the primary strategies, seemed the most effective; and (4) the effects of strategies only held when background knowledge instruction was included. These findings suggest strategy instruction among students with reading difficulties follows an ingredient-interaction model—that is, no single strategy works the best. It is not “the more we teach, the better outcomes to expect.” Instead, different strategy combinations may produce different effects on reading comprehension. Main idea, text structure, and retell together may best optimize the cognitive load during reading comprehension. Background knowledge instruction should be combined with strategy instruction to facilitate knowledge retrieval as to reduce the cognitive load of using strategies.