Reading Skills, Assessments, and Interventions

This chapter provides an overview of crucial reading skills, such as vocabulary knowledge and decoding, that underpin reading comprehension for adults who require additional supports in reading. It also introduces examples of how to assess these different reading skills and summarizes many of the assessments commonly used in adult education research and instructional programs. Additionally, this chapter reviews several research studies that have administered large-scale reading-focused interventions to adults with reading difficulties. The final section addresses key challenges in conducting rigorous reading intervention research with adults and emphasizes the ongoing need for continued work to strengthen instructional practices and outcomes.