Improving Middle School Students’ Science Literacy Through Reading Infusion

ABSTRACT Despite recent calls for border crossing between reading and science, few studies have examined the impact of reading infusion in the science curriculum on students’ science literacy. In this quasi-experimental study, the authors investigated the effects of an inquiry-based science curriculum that integrated explicit reading strategy instruction and quality science trade books on the development of science literacy among middle school students. Students in 10 sixth-grade science classes from 1 public middle school in the United States were randomly assigned to 2 conditions: inquiry-based science only (IS) and inquiry-based science plus reading (ISR). Results from the analyses of covariance showed that the ISR students significantly outperformed their IS peers on all measures of science literacy. It was suggested that even a modest amount of reading infusion could have a positive impact on middle school students’ science literacy. The limitations and implications of the study were also discussed. Keywords: science literacycontent area readingmiddle school ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research reported in this article was supported by a Multi-University Reading, Mathematics and Science Initiative (MURMSI) grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education and coordinated through Florida State University's Learning Systems Institute. The views expressed in the article are not necessarily endorsed by the funding agency. The authors are grateful to Linda Lamme and Rose Pringle for their collaboration on the project and to Troy Sadler for reading and reacting to an earlier version of the article. The authors remain, nonetheless, solely responsible for the content of the article.