3rd Edition

Handbook of Research on Reading Comprehension

Edited By Susan E. Israel Copyright 2026
610 Pages 27 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

610 Pages 27 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

610 Pages 27 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

The Handbook of Research on Reading Comprehension is the seminal research handbook on reading comprehension. The third edition is an edited comprehensive compilation that summarizes the body of research on reading comprehension, building on the research of the first and second editions. The purpose of the third edition is to provide a resource to: • Summarize the theory, methods,... Read more

Contents

Forewords
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the Editor
Contributors & Affiliations

 

Part I: FOUNDATIONS: Ways of Knowing and Doing

1.     Introduction: Examining Comprehension Through New Lenses
Susan E. Israel

2.     The Roots of Reading Comprehension Instruction
P. David Pearson and Gina N. Cervetti

3.     Professional Development in an Era of Literacy Mandates: Teaching Comprehension in the United States and in the World
Barbara Laster and Carla Finkelstein

 

Part II: Theoretical Perspectives

4.     Advancing an Equity-Oriented, Sociocultural Account of Reading Comprehension
Gina N. Cervetti, Cynthia Greenleaf, Kathleen A. Hinchman, and P. David Pearson

5.     Understanding the Nature of Reading Comprehension: Viewing Comprehension as a Multifaceted Phenomenon
Chaeyun Lee

 6.   Reading Comprehension as Social Practice(s) in Social Events
David Bloome, Ayanna F. Brown, and Maria Beatriz Pinto

7.     Theoretical Transformations in Comprehension: Reflections on the Past and Visions for the Future
Thilina I. Wickramaarachchi, Rick Fisher, Laurie “Darian” Thrailkill, Adeline M. Borti, and Cynthia H. Brock

 

Part III:  DEVELOPMENTAL IMPACT

8. The Roles of Oral Language and Knowledge Development In Supporting Text Comprehension for Young Children
Tanya S. Wright, Sonia Q. Cabell, and HyeJin Hwang

9.     Using Assessments to Map and Evaluate the Comprehension Development of Young Children
Katherine A Dougherty Stahl and Georgia Earnest Garcia

10. Choosing Texts for Comprehension
Sarah M. Lupo and Elfrieda H. Hiebert

11.   Reading Fluency and Comprehension Development
Melanie R. Kuhn and Megan M. Gregory

 12. Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension: More Than a Simple Equation
Gwynne Ellen Ash, Jodi P. Holschuh, and James F. Baumann

 

Part IV: TEXT PROCESSING AND KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION

13.  The Connection Between Reading Comprehension and Written Composition: Theory and Evidence
Young-Suk Grace Kim

 14. The Knowledge-Comprehension Connection: Activating, Building, And Revising Knowledge During Reading
Courtney Hattan, Jackie E. Relyea, and Yuzi Gao

15.  More than Words: Examining Reading Comprehension as an Act of Communication
Jennifer Frean

16.  Self-Regulation with Agency: A Path Less Traveled
Dixie D. Massey and Samuel D. Miller

 

Part V: DIGITAL TEXT COMPREHENSION AND STRATEGIES

17.  Background Research on Historical, Social, and Cultural Factors Shaping Students: Reading Comprehension of Digital, Multimodal Texts
Richard Beach, Robert J. Tierney, and Blaine E. Smith

18. Constructing Meaning through Discussion
Janice F. Almasi, Keli Garas-York, Temidayo Jaiyesimi, Caitlin McClure and Zachary Milford

19.  Research on Informational and Digital Text Comprehension
John Z. Strong, Laura S. Tortorelli, and Sharon Walpole

 

 

Part VI:  CULTURE, EQUITY, AND ENGAGEMENT

20.  Reading Comprehension Research from an Intersectional Lens: Examining the Knowledge Base in the Context of Race, Language and Disability
Endia J. Lindo and Amy M. Elleman

21.  Family Literacy and Reading Comprehension: Evolving Understandings and Emerging Directions
Marliese R. Peltier, Patricia A. Edwards, and Jacquelyn Sweeney

22.  Perspectives on Reading Comprehension for Multilingual Learners
Anne C. Ittner, Jackie Caires-Hurley, and Annie Delbridge

23.  Racial Literacies and Comprehension: Readers, Histories, Contexts, Texts, Practices, Assessments, and Intersubjective Meanings before/since/beyond 21st Century Race Customs of the U.S.
Marcus Croom

 

 Part VII:  FUTURE DIRECTIONS

24.  Public Policy in the Era of Pandemic Response and Recovery, The Science of Reading, and New Literacies
Cory Stai

25.  Where to From Here?
Susan E. Israel, Lor Czop Assaf, and Parastoo Abedini

Afterword: The Future of Reading Comprehension Analyses: Addressing Methodological Concerns in Order to Advance Conceptual Understanding
Susan E. Israel

Final Thoughts: How Classroom Teachers Can Benefit from Reading the Handbook of Research on Reading Comprehension, 3rd Edition

Index

Biography

Susan E. Israel, PhD, is a literacy researcher, educator, and author who has focused her research agenda on reading comprehension since her early days teaching in the classroom over 25 years ago. She taught at the University of Notre Dame, in the Alliance for Catholic Education summer program, and at the University of Dayton, where she received the Panhellenic Council Outstanding Professor Award. Dr. Israel is a recipient of a Teacher as Researcher grant from the International Literacy Association (ILA) and has served on several ILA committees and interest groups, including as president of the History of Literacy Special Interest Group.

"In toto the third edition of this handbook performs a pedagogical hat trick by delving into the past, covering expansively the state of the art, and postulating both possibilities and potentials for a myriad of futures for scholarship on reading comprehension. The text admirably covers the theory, knowledge bases, and methodologies that serve as the foundations of all work in the field of reading comprehension. Further, in serving as a text for the third decade of the 21st century, it provides coverage of the new and ever-expanding technologies along with coverage of the evolving perspectives on culture, sociolinguistics, policy, equity, etc. as part and parcel to comprehension of text." 

Norman A. Stahl, Professor Emeritus of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University, USA

"This third edition of the Handbook of Research on Reading Comprehension is needed to evince the ever-evolving nature of reading comprehension. It will be invaluable to professors, students, university program and course development, national accreditation, and professional development. I believe it is a cutting-edge reading comprehension research resource."

Maureen McLaughlin, Professor Emerita, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania