Conclusion and Future Implications

The researcher began this study with the goal of learning how students best understand

informational text and how the educator can best facilitate the process. What the researcher

learned reinforced the trends in test results: students are not as successful when working with

informational text as they are working with narrative text. The researcher has now

determined the best methods to improve comprehension for informational reading.

Importance of the Study

In a world with unlimited access to informational text, students must develop the skills to

comprehend and, perhaps more importantly, analyze that specific type of text. The ability to do

both impinges on our students success in life. Even knowing this, teachers are still only

spending an average of 3.6 minutes per day on informational text instruction (Duke, 2000). With

our students future in the balance, the importance of focusing on informational text

comprehension could not be more imperative. The results of this study (in particular the pre-test)

prove why informational text comprehension became a focus of the Common Core. The results

of the current study gave the researcher determination to close the gap between fiction and

nonfiction text comprehension.

Because of this action research study, the researcher has a proactive way of

approaching informational text. First, the researcher incorporated a variety of informational text

to the daily curriculum. Since the research suggests students will not improve their informational

text comprehension by simply reading the text (Baker et al. 2011), the researcher must employ

meaningful, explicit text structure instruction. Students must be allotted time to dismantle

specific informational text structures and analyze them. When students are given direct

instruction in how to appropriately use graphic organizers, they could better comprehend and
organize informational text. This information is valuable for future educators so they become

aware that informational text structure can be comprehended when students are given explicit

instruction on how to use graphic organizers.

Lessons Learned

The lessons the researcher learned throughout this research study were impacted in some

way by the studys limitations. The researcher conducted the study for only nine weeks. If

allowed more time, the researcher may have been able to introduce more graphic organizers in

order to compare and contrast the results. This extended period of time could have given the

researcher more data points to gather and analyze. Another limitation for the researcher was the

participants varied reading and writing abilities. The researcher learned that in order to

accommodate all levels, there should be no time constraint for students to complete the reading

and graphic organizer. Even though the sample of students was confined to one class with one

teacher, the researcher believed that because of the integrity of the study, she was able to see with

fresh eyes the strengths and weaknesses of her students, her teaching, and her materials.

The researcher has learned both about her impact as an educator as well as how her

students learn best. This study first shaped the researcher into a better educator by learning about

the importance of strong informational text comprehension to her students futures.

Understanding and applying the knowledge gleaned from the literature review allowed the

researcher to avoid missteps and provided meaningful instruction that would benefit student

learning. The researcher learned the importance of infusing informational text into her students

reading repertoire. In addition to immersing the students into informational texts, the researcher

learned that the text structures used in informational writing are often difficult and students need

a way to organize the information learned. Explicit instruction on how to use graphic organizers
was important for students in order for them to categorize the most important information.

Graphic organizers presented at the end of reading gave students an opportunity to visually

organize the information from the text. The addition of clearly organized graphic organizers,

such as the bubble map increased student growth because students has a set amount of

information they needed to find and organize.

Future Implications

The researchers awareness of the importance of a direct approach to improving the

comprehension of informational text inspired her to continue her study. With an alarming trend

of declining scores in informational text comprehension on standardized tests, the researcher

plans on sharing results gathered from this study with her peers and sharing effective strategies

for student improvement. She is interested in repeating the study, but increasing the length of

time so that the results analyzed can include state standardized tests. In addition to working with

the compare and contrast text structure, the researcher would introduce cause and effect,

sequencing, and problem and solution.

Students are fully immersed in this Age of Information. At stake are their abilities to

understand a complex world of forms, policies, procedures, instructions, and news reports. The

inundation of information makes it more important than ever for students to understand what

they read. Will they miss graduating because they did not understand the directions for a final

exam? Will a low ACT score from the predominantly non-fiction reading section prevent them

from admission to college? Will they lose out on a scholarship because they misread the essay

prompt? Will intimidation of legal jargon blind them from their rights? Will an inability to

identify unsubstantiated claims make them pawns to politicians? It is the responsibility of

educators to mold our students into citizens that are able to live, work, and learn with success. It
is now more important than ever to work with informational text in the classroom, so that

learning can be transferred into the real world and that the real world can be the classroom of

their future.