THE EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATCH AND CONTENT OVERLAP ON GENERALIZEDREADING PERFORMANCE

This study examined the effects of instructional match and content ove rlap on students' ability to generalize from passage reading instructi on. Four students with mild disabilities served as participants. Using a multielement design, students were instructed with passages at two levels of text difficulty (instructionally matched vs. instructionally mismatched), and generalization was assessed with passages at two lev els of similarity to those instructed (low vs. high content overlap). Results indicated that students' oral reading accuracy and fluency sho wed the greatest degree of generalization when instructional materials were matched to the students' skill level and assessment materials we re similar to those used during instruction. Moreover, these results w ere maintained at 1-month follow-up. The implications of these finding s for classroom reading instruction and the assessment of students' re ading skills are discussed.