Research & Current Findings
The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at the University of Minnesota is collectively dedicated to cultivating an inclusive and equitable environment. We are a distinctly urban campus and are deeply engaged with our surrounding communities. Diversity and equity are at the core of our mission. We are all responsible for recognizing, confronting and addressing bias and discrimination, and diligently working for positive change in support of equity and diversity.
MIA
Research thus far indicates that MIA produces reliable data that correlates reasonably well with student performance on standardized language comprehension assessments, and is sensitive to growth over short time periods. Data produced in MIA research has been used to create and calibrate parallel forms that can be used to monitor student response to instruction and intervention.
ELCII
Preliminary findings indicate that students who receive ELCII modules and whole-class read-alouds make significant progress in inference-making across a 10-week instructional period. Scaffolding and feedback are key instructional components, in that they support higher accuracy in responding to inferential questioning. Evidence also indicates a slight advantage to asking questions during video watching compared to asking questions after video watching, suggesting that embedded questioning supports comprehension as the process unfolds.
TeLCI
Findings from a small randomized control trial indicate that TELCI shows promise to improve inference making as a Tier-2 supplemental instruction. Both low and average comprehenders improved in their comprehension skills across an 8-week intervention period, suggesting that TELCI is appropriate for comprehenders of different skill levels. Evidence also indicates that scaffolding and feedback are key intervention components: students’ responses to questions were significantly more accurate after they received scaffolding and feedback.
Primary Investigators
Panayiota (Pani) Kendeou, PhD
Guy Bond Chair in Reading and Professor
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Minnesota
kend0040@umn.edu
Kristen McMaster, PhD
Stern Family Professor of Reading Success
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Minnesota
mcmas004@umn.edu
Publications List
A Longitudinal Investigation of Directional Relations Between Domain Knowledge and Reading in the Elementary Years.
Hwang, H., McMaster, K.L. and Kendeou, P. (2023). Reading Research Quarterly.
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Supporting inference-making during COVID-19 through individualized scaffolding and feedback: a natural experiment.
Kim, J., Burey, J., Hwang, H. et al. (2023). Reading and Writing.
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Development and Validation of the Minnesota Inference Assessment.
Kendeou, P., McMaster, K. L., Butterfuss, R., Kim, J., Slater, S., & Bulut, O. (2020). Assessment for Effective Intervention.
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Question Timing, Language Comprehension, and Executive Function in Inferencing
Butterfuss, R., Kendeou, P., McMaster, K. L., Orcutt, E., & Bulut, O. (2021). Scientific Studies of Reading.
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The Inferential Language Comprehension (iLC) Framework
Kendeou, P., McMaster, K. L., Butterfuss, R., Kim, J., Bresina, B., & Wagner, K. (2020). Topics in Cognitive Science, 12(1), 256-273.
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Interactive Web-based Inference Instruction for Children in the Primary Grades
McMaster, K. L., Kendeou, P., Bresina, B., Slater, S., Wagner, K., White, M.J., Butterfuss, R., Kim, J., & Umana, C. (2019). L1-Educational Studies in Languages and Literature, 19, 1-30.
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Reading Comprehension: Core Components and Processes
Kendeou, P., McMaster, K. L., & Christ, T. J. (2016). Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3, 62-69.
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Making the Most of Read-Alouds to Support Primary-Grade Students’ Inference-Making
Hwang, H., Orcutt, E., Reno, E., Kim, J., Harsch, R., McMaster, K., Kendeou, P., Slater, S. (2023). The Reading Teacher.
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