The PD Exchange

Beyond Decoding: Strengthening Comprehension in K–3 Instruction

Tuesday 17 March 2026·3:15 pm

North Carolina (NC) has significantly invested in K-5 teachers’ code-focused instruction. Yet, research-based comprehension and vocabulary instruction are critical to improve youth outcomes (Pilonieta et al., 2019). There are two key challenges to comprehension instruction: (1) the complexity of comprehension processes (Paris, 2005), and (2) youths’ diverse comprehension needs (Thomas, 2022). We provide research-based practices for addressing these challenges.

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