Integrating self-regulation in whole-class reciprocal teaching: A moderator–mediator analysis of incremental effects on fifth graders’ reading comprehension

• Reciprocal Teaching (RT) was combined with methods of self-regulated learning (SRL).
• In fifth-grade classrooms, RT + SRL was compared with a traditional RT program.
• RT + SRL enhanced the sustainability of training-induced reading comprehension gains.
• This incremental RT + SRL effect was mediated by the mastery of reading strategies.
• Less fluent readers benefited the most from integrating SRL in the RT program.

In this classroom intervention study, reciprocal teaching (RT) of reading strategies was combined with explicit instruction in self-regulated learning (SRL) to promote the reading comprehension of fifth-grade students (N = 306). Twelve intact classes were randomly assigned either to an RT + SRL condition or to an RT condition without explicit instruction in self-regulation. Three additional classes served as a no-treatment comparison group. Strategies instruction was delivered by trained assistants in conventional German language lessons. Students practiced the application of these strategies in small groups. Both at posttest and at maintenance (8 weeks after the intervention), students in the two intervention conditions (RT and RT + SRL) outperformed comparison students in measures of reading comprehension, strategy-related task performance, and self-efficacy for reading. Relative to RT students, students in the RT + SRL condition were better able to maintain training-induced performance gains over the follow-up interval. A moderated mediation analysis revealed that this difference in the sustainability of the two treatments was (a) mediated by the successful mastery of the learned strategies and (b) most evident among students with poor reading fluency skills.