Launching K-2 Students Toward Reading Proficiency

Abstract

Many students experience difficulty learning to read, and in fact, year after year, over one-third of U.S. 4th graders read below a basic proficiency level (NAEP, 2019). Although reading achievement in Minnesota is typically high overall, the achievement gap between lower and higher performing students continues to increase. In response, Richfield Public Schools (RPS) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) began a partnership in 2014, with the goal to improve reading achievement for students in kindergarten through grade 2. The result of this partnership is the Inference Galaxy, a suite of personalized digital learning tools that provide inference-making instruction to students in the primary grades. Inference-making is the cornerstone of reading comprehension, as it allows readers to fill in gaps in texts that are otherwise left unsaid. By improving inference-making, the Inference Galaxy may also foster students’ reading comprehension skills. In our research, we have examined whether scaffolding and feedback support inference making in students in kindergarten through grade 2.