How teens build reading understanding and what helps or holds them back
Official title: Modeling Longitudinal Reading Comprehension in Adolescence: Protective and Risk Factors
Funded at University of Kansas Medical Center · NIH-11508814 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how reading comprehension develops from middle to high school and which cognitive, motivational, and school factors help or hinder teens' ability to understand complex texts.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Kansas Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Kansas City, United States) |
| Project start | May 2, 2023 |
| Project end | February 28, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $58,426 |
| NIH project number | 3R01HD108300-04S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11508814 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are middle- and high-school students (about grades 6–11), including bilingual and monolingual adolescents from diverse backgrounds.
✕Less likely to help
The project does not target preschool children or adults and may not directly help students who already read at advanced levels.
What this research studies
As a teen or parent, this work follows students from middle school through high school to see how reading skills change over time. Researchers will give reading and thinking tests, measure memory and attention, and collect information about motivation, the school environment, and language background. They will compare groups such as bilingual versus monolingual students and girls versus boys to see which factors protect reading or increase risk. The team uses statistical models to map patterns that could point to better supports in classrooms and at home.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could help schools and clinicians identify at-risk teens earlier and tailor reading supports to each student's needs.
How similar studies have gone: Some earlier studies have tracked reading growth in younger children, but broad longitudinal modeling across adolescence that includes cognitive, psychological, and ecological factors is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Kansas Medical Center
Kansas City, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bridges, Mindy S — University of Kansas Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Bridges, Mindy S
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.