Teaching self-questioning using systematic prompt fading: Effects on fourth graders’ reading comprehension

Teaching students to generate questions to monitor their reading comprehension is an evidence-based practice demonstrated to be effective across grade levels for students with and without disabilities. As self-questioning is a complex skill, many students can benefit from additional instructional supports, especially when they are first learning how to self-question. One such support is systematic prompt fading, an evidence-based practice in which instructional prompts are gradually faded until the student can perform the skill independently. This study used systematic prompt fading to teach fourth graders a self-questioning strategy to improve their reading comprehension. A multiple probe across participants design demonstrated improved comprehension quiz scores for fourth graders who engaged in self-questioning while reading expository passages. In addition, all participants demonstrated at least some generalization to higher-level content area textbooks.