Inference Instruction for Students with Reading Disabilities

Abstract

National data indicate that approximately 90% of rural students with a reading disability read at or below basic levels of reading proficiency. A growing body of research demonstrates that the ability to make inferences is essential for reading comprehension but particularly difficult for students with reading disabilities. Compounding matters, rural special educators often have limited resources available to support students with reading disabilities, largely served in general education classrooms. In this Practice in Action article we support rural special educators who must innovatively collaborate with general education teachers to ensure high quality and specialized reading instruction and support inclusive and equitable learning environments by (a) defining inferencing, (b) reviewing College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards that support inferencing, (c) discussing the inference skills of students with or at-risk for reading disabilities, (d) outlining components of effective inference instruction, and (e) offering recommendations for how to teach inferencing using a graphic organizer.

According to the 44^th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Office of Special Education Programs, 2022), 75% of students with a reading disability (RD), that is students who struggle to read text accurately and quickly or with comprehension, spend more than 80% of their day in general education classrooms. Students with RD who attend rural schools are more likely to be educated in general education classrooms relative to their peers attending non-rural schools (McCabe & Ruppar, 2023). Of concern, declining rural economies and rising operational costs make it challenging for rural districts to recruit and retain highly qualified special education teachers who are adequately trained to provide instructional support to students with RD (Burton et al., 2013; McCabe & Ruppar, 2023). This results in higher caseloads for rural special education teachers and reduces the ability to provide direct instruction and services to which students with RD are entitled under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004). Further, rural special educators often lack access to ongoing professional development that teaches them to effectively implement current evidence-based practices, adapt curriculum, or differentiate instruction to increase equitable learning opportunities for students with RD in general education classrooms (Cadero-Smith, 2020; Collins, 2008). For this reason, it is of considerable importance that rural special educators have access to research-based professional development resources and information designed to improve the effectiveness of reading instruction for students with RD that can be easily infused into inclusive general education reading or English language arts classes.

This Practice in Action article addresses that priority by presenting an instructional method for teaching inferencing, a literacy skill that represents a significant source of reading comprehension difficulty among students with or at-risk for RD (Author, 2015a). Examples of direct implementation for practitioners are provided, with specific aims for applications in rural settings. This Practice in Action article operationally defines students with or at-risk for RD as students reading below grade level benchmarks. This broad definition was selected because the instructional approach modeled is not only appropriate for students with RD that are served directly by special educators but also the diverse range of struggling readers present in rural general education classrooms indirectly supported by special educators. Thus, this Practice in Action article provides rural special educators a widely applicable approach for supporting the development of inference making.

The remainder of this article is organized as follows: (a) we define inferencing; (b) we review the Common Core Standards College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards that support inferencing (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices [NGACBP] & Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], 2010); (c) we describe the inferencing skills of students with or at-risk for RD; (d) we outline components of effective inference instruction; and (e) we present recommendations for teaching inferencing using a graphic organizer. This efficient method of teaching inference making was first tested by Elbro and Buch-Iversen (2013). The method has since been refined based on recent research and has been validated as effective among students with or at-risk for RD who attend rural schools (Barth & Elleman, 2017; Barth et al., 2022).

Definition of Inferencing

According to Hall (2016) inferencing is the ability to make meaningful connections between different sections of a text and/or using background knowledge to fill in gaps in understanding. Inferencing is important because texts read by older students rarely include all details needed to read with understanding and independently learn from text. Because of this, readers must make inferences to add missing details that are needed to fill in gaps in understanding (Elleman, 2017). Readers do this by meaningfully connecting information in the text and then integrating that information with their background knowledge of the topic.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards that Support Inferencing

The importance of making inferences is outlined in several College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading (NGACBP & CCSSO, 2010). For example, all students are expected to read text closely to determine what it explicitly means and to make logical inferences that tie the ideas in text together (CCSS.ELA.LITERACY.CCRA.R.1). Students must also cite textual evidence that justifies inferences generated. Evidence must provide support for inferences that connect ideas explicitly stated in the text as well as inferences that support the reader’s understanding of the text’s implied meaning (NGACBP & CCSSO, 2010). Standards such as these not only emphasize that students must be able to make a variety of inferences while reading, but students must use the text to justify the accuracy of inferences formed.

Inferencing among Students with or At-risk for Reading Disabilities

A growing body of literature suggests that students with and at-risk for RD struggle to generate inferences while reading. Less skilled readers are less accurate and slower at making inferences relative to skilled readers (Barth et al., 2015). This means that when students with RDs read longer sections of text (e.g., paragraphs and chapters), they struggle to make essential connections needed for comprehension. Next, background knowledge is an essential component of inferencing and comprehension (Barnes et al., 2015). However, less skilled readers do not always have the background knowledge they need to make sense of grade-level texts. Even if they have been taught the requisite knowledge before reading content area texts, they do not consistently use it to make inferences (Barth et al., 2022). This has been reported among at-risk students and English Language Learners (ELs) attending urban schools (Cain et al., 2001; Hall et al., 2020), at-risk students attending rural schools (Barth & Elleman, 2017; Barth et al., 2022), and rural, monolingual English students and ELs who read at proficient levels (Barth et al., 2021). Last, inferencing can be successfully taught to students with RDs using classroom resources found in rural schools (Barth & Elleman, 2017; Barth et al., 2022). The result of delivering explicit instruction to students with or at-risk for RD, is that they generate inferences more accurately and they perform higher on informal and formal assessments of reading comprehension (Barth & Elleman, 2017; Hall, 2016; Peng et al., 2024).

Also of interest, recent research conducted with rural middle grade struggling readers, suggests that not only do students’ inferencing skills improve following direct instruction and practice, but the types of errors they make change as well. This work suggests that students first struggle to identify important details in text. With additional instruction and practice, students can successfully identify important information in the text, but struggle to discern relevant from irrelevant knowledge that supports the inference. Following additional instruction and practice, students can successfully identify relevant details in text and relevant background knowledge but struggle to integrate text-based information with relevant knowledge to accurately answer the inference-demanding question. In summary, results suggest that providing explicit instruction and practice in how to (a) identify key details in text, (b) recall relevant knowledge, and (c) integrate text with knowledge increases the accuracy of inferences made by struggling readers and reduces inferencing errors.

Components of Effective Inference Instruction

According to Elleman (2017), components of explicit instruction identified as positively impacting inferencing include (a) how to locate key words or phrases in text and form meaningful connections between and among those ideas; (b) how to integrate important ideas in the text with relevant background knowledge; and (c) opportunities to practice answering inference questions both during and after reading with corrective feedback immediately provided (Fisher et al., 2016; Hattie, 2008).

Next, we describe an inference lesson. The lesson follows Archer and Hughes (2010) principles of explicit instruction (see Figure 1). Archer and Hughes (2010) suggest that an explicit instructional lesson opens by gaining the students’ attention, stating why the lesson/learning is important (e.g., relevancy), and ensuring that students have sufficient background knowledge to benefit from the lesson. After opening the lesson, explicit instruction includes (a) modeling, (b) guided practice, and (c) independent practice. Finally, teachers will close the lesson. This includes a review of what has been learned, preview of what will be learned next, and independent practice. Explicit instruction is important because it makes the objective of learning clear to the student by teaching sequentially, following a routine that includes modeling, guided and independent practice, and corrective feedback that promotes skill mastery and efficacy (Archer & Hughes, 2010).

Figure 1.

Implementation of Instruction Using Graphic Organizer

For additional information and access to video models of explicit instruction, please refer to the text Explicit Instruction and its companion website (Archer & Hughes, 2010) at https://explicitinstruction.org/. This website on explicit instruction, that includes free access to videos, book reviews, and a podcast, is easy to understand, which benefits rural teachers who may not have access to high-quality professional development in their district. Teachers may also refer to Reading Rockets, classroom strategies on Inferencing at https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/classroom-strategies/inferencing. This website is also free and includes videos, graphic organizers, and resources that support inferencing in reading and English Language Arts classes as well as other subject areas.

It is also important to note that the lesson below is a model. Rural teachers should adapt these instructional principles to accommodate their school curriculum, available literacy resources, and student skills. Also, teachers should use a variety of texts to promote inferencing across different text types (e.g., informational and narrative) and content area subjects (e.g., English language arts and social studies). Initially, texts should be easy to decode and comprehend. By providing these texts instruction can focus on how and when to make inferences while reading.

Model Lesson to Teach Inferencing Using a Graphic Organizer

Inferencing, the ability to connect ideas in text with one’s prior knowledge, can be broken down into three steps.

Step 1: Identify: Locate key words or phrases in the text that align with the inference-demanding question.

Step 2: Knowledge: Activate background knowledge related to key words or phrases found in the text.

Step 3: Integrate: Integrate ideas from text with background knowledge.

The graphic organizer in Figure 2 is a visual tool that operationalizes how to use this three-step process. The graphic organizer reminds students that answering inference-demanding questions requires the integration of information from text with their background knowledge.

Figure 2.

Defined and empty graphic organizer

Lesson Preparation

To prepare, the teacher will want to do the following:

1. Identify text at the appropriate level of difficulty for the class. Choose passages slightly below the classes’ reading level so that the instructional focus is on learning how and when to make inferences. Look for passages with 5 to 10 sentences and less than 200 words. Confirm that the text offers one to three opportunities for students to connect new vocabulary and make inferences.

2. Prepare inference questions based on the passage selected. The teacher should identify inference making opportunities and create inference demanding questions. Inference demanding questions often begin with how, why, or what question stems.

3. Preview the text for vocabulary that may require pre-teaching to build background knowledge. Pre-taught vocabulary may include words that are difficult to decode, vocabulary students do not know, or vocabulary used in a different context than previously taught or encountered. One way to locate key vocabulary is to look for words that are important for understanding the big ideas embedded in the text. These words will likely help to tie together what the text says or its implied meaning.

4. Pre-fill a graphic organizer prior to beginning the lesson (see Figure 3). Teachers can post the graphic organizer as an anchor chart. Graphic organizers have been found to be effective for students with learning disabilities (Dexter & Hughes, 2011).

5. Prepare for guided and independent practice by providing students printed copies of the partially filled in and blank graphic organizers from Figure 2.

   1. During guided practice the teacher will support inferencing by using the partially completed graphic organizer from Figure 2.
   2. During independent practice inferencing can be supported by using the blank portion of Figure 2. However, some students with RD may continue to require the support provided by the partially completed graphic organizer.

Figure 3.

Pre-filled graphic organizer

Opening of the Lesson

Gain attention.

Gaining attention might seem obvious, but it is important to begin instruction with students ready to learn. A simple example of gaining attention is to say, Everybody, we are going to start our reading lesson now. Look up here, all eyes on me.

Establish skill relevancy.

Pick up a graphic organizer from the front of the room (provide individual printed copies of Figure 3 for each student, or share via smartboard, etc.). The teacher continues, Today, you are going to learn about inferencing. Inferencing is an important skill that helps you understand what you read. When you make an inference, you take clues from text and link it to what you already know.

Prerequisite skills.

Teachers confirm and then teach, review, or reteach critical background knowledge necessary to make accurate inferences during reading. The teacher might say: The topic today is Ancient Egypt. Before we start reading, what do we know about Egypt? [Teacher accepts answers from multiple students in class and writes answers on white board]. That’s great! Based on student responses, the teacher may need to teach important background knowledge (e.g., Ancient Egypt’s location in the world, climate, geography, or information about the Nile River) or vocabulary (e.g., barges and transportation) essential for understanding the text. The teacher should make connections to community by showing the location of ancient Egypt relative to your town or state. The teacher can remind students that while barges were used to transport goods in ancient times, we continue to use barges to transport grain on rivers today. We also haul grain by semi-trucks over highways and interstates. EL and students with disabilities will benefit from the support of essential word routines and semantic maps that support knowledge acquisition (Vaughn et al., 2019) as well as out of the classroom experiences (e.g., field trips) that help students to apply knowledge critically (Greene et al., 2014).

Body of the Lesson

For this instructional sequence, teachers will use the passage from Figure 3 and the graphic organizers shared in Figures 2 and 3. The text should be shared with students via Smartboard or other large projection, or individual copies and they should be directed to read it. This can be done chorally, with partners, or independently. To present the body of the lesson, the teacher might say: One way to learn how to make inferences is with a graphic organizer (have students refer to Figure 2). Graphic organizers are a visual tool that remind us to identify important clues in the text, recall key knowledge, and integrate what you know with clues from the text. They also help us see relationships between ideas. Today, I am going to make inferences about Ancient Egypt using the graphic organizer.

Modeling.

The teacher might say: Alright, let’s use the graphic organizer to make an inference. [Teacher points to the pre-filled graphic organizer below and reads the text aloud]. The inference-demanding question we must answer is Why did Ancient Egyptians use barges to travel? Let’s write down what the text says about Ancient Egyptians, barges, and travel in the Identify box. [The teacher writes key ideas from the text on the white board.] The text says that the Nile River is very long. Egyptians could buy things from other countries by using wooden boats to travel the Nile. Write these key details down.

Let’s activate our background knowledge. Background knowledge is information I already know about Egypt [Begin to add what I know in the Knowledge box]. I know that Ancient Egypt was surrounded by desert. I also know that the Nile River is long. Egyptians could travel this river to visit other countries. Other countries likely had major cities, goods or equipment, and food that Egyptians may have wanted to buy! [The teacher points to both filled out boxes and then the plus sign on the graphic organizer].

Now that I’ve written down what the text says and what I know, I will combine or integrate both pieces of information to answer the inference question, why did Ancient Egyptians use barges to travel? It looks like they may have used barges because Egypt is surrounded by a hot desert. Egyptians traveled to different places! So, this means that the Ancient Egyptian’s used barges to travel because the Nile River was the only way to travel long distances. It allowed them to explore new countries and get new resources. Now we have our inference. Write your inference in the Integrate box. Check and confirm with your neighbor that your inference is correct.

Guided practice.

After modeling for two to three days, based on student skills, teachers can proceed to guided practice. The teacher might say, Using this text about Ancient Egypt, lets answer a new inference question. Read the question with me. Why were the bodies rotting or wasting away? Re-read the text and use the graphic organizer to answer the question. (The teacher monitors and provides corrective feedback as needed).

At this stage, teachers might also have students work together in pairs or small groups and compare their responses for information from text and what they already know. Once the teacher has confirmed that students are ready (not that they all have the correct inference), the teacher can say: Now that you are ready for discussion, make sure that your answer to the inference question combines key details from text with what you already know. The teacher then has a student read their answer aloud. Ethan, please share your final answer. Ethan answers, The bodies were rotting because they were decaying and not cared for well. Teacher responds, Ethan, your answer uses both what the text says, and what you appear to know about Ancient Egyptian mummies, to answer the inference question, well done. Some students may have a correct response that is worded differently, or they may have a partially correct or incorrect response. Support students in understanding how to revise their inaccurate responses to make the inference. Suggestions for providing corrective feedback are presented later in this article.

Independent practice.

Teachers can move to independent practice when students demonstrate that they can competently answer inferences. The goal is to achieve an accuracy rate of at least 80% on inference demanding questions using the graphic organizer. Independent practice is not homework. It is a closely monitored learning experience. The teacher’s role is to provide corrective feedback so that students become increasingly accurate, faster, and confident at forming inferences while reading.

To initiate independent practice, the teacher might say: Now that I have modeled how to make inferences, and we have practiced inferencing together as a class, you will now try some inferencing on your own! This next passage is also about Ancient Egypt. Take your time and read the text and the inference questions. Once you have read and maybe even reread the new passage and questions, use your graphic organizer to answer the inference question. The teacher distributes a new blank graphic organizer and text. Remember, some students may still benefit from a partially completed graphic organizer. The teacher then monitors student performance closely; providing direct feedback and moving around the classroom to check each student’s work.

Closing of the Lesson

Review new vocabulary.

Review might include asking students to define vocabulary using their own words, use the target vocabulary in sentences, provide examples and non-examples, or list critical attributes of the target vocabulary by making culturally relevant connections to rural students’ knowledge base.

Review and summarize.

Review the content and inferencing opportunities from the lesson. The teacher might pair students by numbering ones and twos. Then say: Today we have taken the time to learn more about how to make inferences. Twos, tell your partner why inferencing is important. Ask twos to share. Then summarize students’ responses, Remember that inferences help us answer questions where the answer is not directly in the text. Ones, tell your partner how you use the graphic organizer to support inferencing. Ask ones to share. Summarize or remind students that the graphic organizer helps us to see what we know in our own brains and what the text explicitly states to answer an inference question.

Preview.

The teacher should offer a short preview of what will be learned next. Tomorrow, we will continue to learn more about inferencing. We will use passages of text that are a little longer and harder and try to answer inference-demanding questions on our own, both with and without the graphic organizer. The teacher might share the topic of upcoming lessons. When you are accurate and confident with how and when to make inferences while reading, then you will work on generating your own inference-demanding questions.

Extended Opportunities for Independent Practice.

If students can answer inference questions with high rates of accuracy (e.g., 80% or better on inference demanding questions) and have developed confidence, the teacher can provide students with extended opportunities for independent practice. Extended opportunities for independent practice consist of the same task but using new passages on the same topic of similar length with limited new vocabulary and reduced text difficulty. Inference-demanding questions should be similar in difficulty and structure to questions previously completed during guided practice. It is also important to note that only when students can reliably and independently make accurate inferences should the homework be a suitable expectation. Collaboration with the school or community librarian can help teachers locate texts students are both interested in reading but inference demanding.

Timeline for Instruction

Students with RD will likely require a minimum or 15-20 days of instruction to learn when and how to make inferences while reading (see Figure 1). The instructional schedule should be adjusted to accommodate students’ understanding and mastery. Teachers should monitor accuracy and speed. Regarding accuracy, the goal is to achieve an accuracy rate of at least 80% on inference demanding questions. Regarding speed or automaticity of inferencing, the goal is for students to read text a rate sufficient to sustain accurate and regular inferencing and comprehension across the body of the text.

Figure 1 shows that along with teacher modeling, Days 1-5 might consist of guided practice and a pre-filled organizer, Days 6-10 consists of supported practice where students receive a defined organizer and blank organizer, and Days 11-15 students use an empty organizer during independent practice. Teachers should adapt this schedule based on their students’ needs, skills, and response to instruction.

Corrective Feedback

Corrective feedback is an essential component of your opening, body, and closing of the lesson. Corrective feedback should be provided in a timely manner. It should be positive or neutral (never a reprimand), student friendly, clear, concise, and focused on improving the accuracy and speed of making inferences. Corrective feedback should both help students identify that an error has been made as well as how to fix it. Reteaching may be necessary (Hattie, 2008).

Students with RD will likely make three different types of errors: (a) text-based inferencing error - Identify; (b) knowledge-based inferencing error - Knowledge; or (c) integration of text with knowledge error - Integrate. Below each error type is discussed and corrective feedback is modeled. The inference question is Why did Ancient Egyptian use barges to travel? The correct answer is provided in Figure 3.

Text-based inferencing error (Identify).

Identify errors occur when the student identifies incorrect or irrelevant information from the text. For example, the student writes Tombs held dead bodies of Ancient Egyptians in the Identify box of the graphic organizer. Teacher provides feedback and error correction by saying, Let’s re-read the question. Why did Ancient Egyptians use barges to travel? The information you identified from text is incorrect. Let’s go into the text and find key details about barges and their use for travel. I see that the text says that the Egyptians could buy things from other countries because of these wooden boats. Let’s underline this section of text and write it down in the Identify box. These ideas are important because it tells me that wooden boats were used to travel to other countries. Is there another name for wooden boats? You are correct, wooden boats were called barges. Barges were used to transport goods down a river. Our farmers also transport grain in grain bins and semi-trucks; hay bales in wagons or trailers. Let’s reread the question again, check our knowledge, and make the inference.

Knowledge-based inferencing error (Knowledge).

Knowledge errors occur when the student identifies incorrect or irrelevant background knowledge. Student writes, Ancient Egyptians enjoyed taking vacations to other countries. To correct this error, begin by saying, Let’s re-read the question. Why did Ancient Egyptians use barges to travel? Remind me what key details you identified in the text. Nice job, your information from text is correct. As I look at your graphic organizer, the knowledge you recorded is not correct. Think about the geography of Ancient Egypt. I am activating that Ancient Egypt was considered a desert which is a challenging landscape to grow crops. Ancient Egypt was also located on the Nile River. Egyptians used the Nile River to travel to other countries for food and supplies. Put this knowledge in your own words. Now record your background knowledge in the Knowledge box.

Integration of text with knowledge error (Integrate).

Integrate errors occur when the student fails to accurately integrate information from the text with relevant background to answer the inference demanding question. In this instance, the Identify and Knowledge boxes on the graphic organizer are correct but the Integrate box is incorrect. Student writes, Ancient Egyptians used barges to travel to foreign countries because they wanted to conquer foreign lands. To correct this error, begin by saying, Let’s re-read the question. Why did Ancient Egyptians use barges to travel? Remind me what key details you identified in the text and knowledge your identified as relevant. Nice job, your information from text and knowledge is relevant and accurate. Now we need to integrate information from text with your knowledge to make the inference. The Ancient Egyptian’s used barges to travel because the river was the only viable mode of long-distance travel, and it allowed them to explore new countries and gain new resources.

Conclusion

The purpose of this Practice in Action article is to present an instructional method for teaching inference making to students with or at-risk for RD who attend rural schools. The instructional approach for teaching inference making has been successfully used with typically developing students and students with or at-risk for RD who attend rural schools. The instructional approach is associated with improved inferencing and reading comprehension (Barth et al., 2022; Hall, 2016; Hall et al., 2020). This can be accomplished in approximately 20 explicit instructional sessions that include teacher modeling, guided- and independent-practice, using curricular resources present in rural classrooms and libraries. Further, this approach for teaching inferencing has wide applicability to rural settings where special educators often push into the general eduation classroom to serve students identified with a RD.

The practical implications of adding this approach into your reading comprehension instruction is that it will help students answer inference demanding questions that deepen their understanding of text. Inferencing is important because it helps students to mentally connect important pieces of the text together, ties together the text with their background knowledge, and supports understanding of the text’s implied meaning. Considering all that is needed to generate inferences while reading, it is apparent that students with and at-risk for RD need extensive support and strategies to read for understanding. This Practice in Action article breaks the inference-making process into a routine that is manageable for both students and teachers while addressing the resource limitations of rural school districts.

Finally, this Practice in Action serves to address a major concern of rural school districts and their special educators, access to sufficient instructional resources and professional development to support students with RD (McCabe & Ruppar, 2023). Rural special educators who have knowledge and skills in current evidence-based practices and who can model high-quality instruction and advocate for differentiation within the general education classroom are essential to student success (McCabe & Ruppar, 2023). Because inference making is a complex skill that is foundational to comprehension and helps readers understand a text’s implied meaning, it needs to be explicitly taught, especially in rural settings where students with disabilities are more likely to be under identified as having a reading disability and included in general education reading instruction as their primary source of instruction and intervention.