Recent research indicates the emergence of comprehension problems in children as young as 4 years of age (Johnson, 1987). Without attention, these children, and their older counterparts, are at-risk of school failure. This state-of-affairs is especially problematic in view of the fact that research has tended to focus on developmental changes in older children's comprehension (e.g., Markman, 1979). Less is known about the comprehension skills of preschool and early elementary children and ways to instruct these skills. Research on the young at-risk child is even more scarce. The purpose of the proposed research is to investigate the effects of an approach to instruction that utilizes videodisc technology to help young students who art at risk of school failure develop comprehension and decision-making skills. The approach is based on current theories of mental models and generative learning, and extends the scope of initial research, the results of which indicate that videodisc-based comprehension instruction is more effective than listening comprehension instruction for promoting story comprehension and memory in kindergarten children. Research is proposed to compare the effects of these two types of instruction across ability (i.e., at-risk and not t-risk) and age range (i.e., 5-, 7-, and 10-year-olds). Subsequent studies in the proposal examine whether comprehension and decision-making skills learned in a videodisc context transfer to new contexts, both videodisc and verbal, and whether transfer to verbal contexts can be achieved by providing videodisc- based frameworks to help children form mental models that guide subsequent prose comprehension. Finally, research is proposed to examine the value of adding a decision-making component to the videodisc-based instruction on children's comprehension skills. Together, the proposed studies will provide information on ways to promote the development of important literacy skills necessary for success in and out of school contexts.
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