Transcript Analysis and Teacher Study Group: Improving Comprehension Instruction

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers’ participation in a teacher study group and transcript analysis would have an effect on the reading comprehension scores of their students. The 6 teacher participants learned about classroom discussion and comprehension instruction through reading Questioning the Author (Beck, McKeown, Hamilton, & Kucan, 1997) and analyzing their classroom discussions. Students of the participating teachers and students of 6 matched control group teachers completed the Degrees of Reading Power comprehension assessment (n = 171). Treatment group students scored significantly higher than control group students when pre-test scores were held constant (p = .001). Teachers reported transcript analysis and study groups as viable methods of improving their instruction and increasing student reading achievement.