Using Brief Experimental Analysis to Identify Effective Reading Comprehension Interventions for High School Students

Abstract

This study examined the utility of Brief Experimental Analysis (BEA) as an efficient, data-driven method for identifying effective reading comprehension strategies for high school students with significant reading difficulties. Three ninth-grade students at risk of failing a social studies course participated in a multielement single-case design comparing three reciprocal teaching strategies (i.e., generating questions, summarizing, predicting) against a control condition. Reading passages and comprehension assessments were drawn directly from course textbooks to enhance ecological validity. Results indicated that BEA successfully differentiated effective strategies across participants. Summarizing and generating questions consistently produced the highest comprehension outcomes for two students, while all three strategies improved performance for the third student, with predicting yielding the strongest effect. Across participants, strategy-based conditions generally outperformed the control condition. Transfer effects, measured using MAZE assessments, showed meaningful gains in reading comprehension, with two students demonstrating strong improvement and one showing moderate progress. Growth rates exceeded typical norms, suggesting educationally significant change within a relatively brief intervention period. Overall, findings support BEA as a practical tool for rapidly identifying individualized reading comprehension interventions at the high school level. Despite limitations related to small sample size and limited exposure to conditions, the study contributes evidence that structured, strategy-based interventions embedded in authentic academic materials can meaningfully improve comprehension for struggling adolescent readers.