Why Reading Comprehension?

Reading comprehension is among the most powerful predictors of long-term academic success. In my readership analytics, nearly 43% of visitors engage with comprehension-focused blog content—underscoring urgency for leaders and policymakers in this aspect of the curriculum. If students can’t derive meaning from text, every other subject remains out of reach for them. Therefore, reading comprehension is an important gateway to the wider curriculum and is a clear priority for schools.

Executive Functions: Peering beneath the 'hood' of reading

While decoding and vocabulary are well studied, executive functions such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and planning also play a critical, and often under-specified role in reading comprehension. 

In terms of reading for pleasure, a child engages executive functions as follows:

1. During fluent reading, they monitor, self-correct and anticipate what is coming up next in their reading (engaging working memory and cognitive flexibility).

2. The child reads in a deliberate goal-directed way, motivated by curiosity and interest in the text (involving foresight and planning).

3. To make the most of the opportunity to read, they focus on the text and minimize distractibility (requiring inhibition).

A body of research supports the view that executive functions are a necessary aspect of reading comprehension.

• A meta-analysis of 197 studies (2,026 effect sizes) revealed an interesting change in the development of reading skills. Researchers showed that different aspects of working memory support early reading development up to Year 5 / 4th Grade. Beyond this, verbal memory became more critical for young readers.PubMed

• A meta-analytic review of 6,673 studies of the relationship between executive function and reading comprehension, reported no effect of age or of the type of measure used to gather data (Follmer, 2018). The analysis showed a moderate association (r = .36) between EF and reading comprehension. (Variability in the data depended on the type of executive function.)Taylor & Francis OnlineResearchGate

• More recent evidence (Wang et al., 2024) highlighted an association between executive functions and reading comprehension skills for Chilean children, aged 9-10 (with reading comprehension difficulties and without). The children without reading comprehension difficulties relied on working memory skills, whereas those with difficulties leaned more on cognitive flexibility.PMCPubMed

These findings are in alignment with what I have observed when I’ve assessed younger children in all regions of the UK (except for Northern Ireland). I've noticed that at the end of the Rhythm for Reading Programme, targeted children (who relied less on working memory) became highly responsive and flexible when processing contextual cues.

Here is an example.

1. Before the programme children would use word attack skills informed by phonics and the shape of the word: in a passage set in a circus tent, they often read 'to clean the ring'

2. In follow up testing they monitored contextual cues and adjusted the final consonant, thus demonstrating their understanding of the story and read: 'to clear the ring'.

Key takeaway: EF is not ancillary; it shapes the pathways to comprehension and may demand different emphases for different learner profiles.

Why Nuance Matters: Limits of Educational Research

A vast difference exists between reading comprehension in the classroom and the type of reading comprehension studied in educational research. Ecological validity (e.g. well-controlled, classroom-based research) attempts to bridge this ‘gap’.

Large scale data bases flatten research findings and provide headlines with limited applicability, whereas small scale studies are nuanced to the point where they also have limited application.

Furthermore, executive functions are not fixed, but relatively fluid and cannot be isolated from each other easily. Inhibitory control impacts performance in working memory, for example.

Another factor worth considering is that EFs reflect each child’s interaction with their environment - as they develop from early infancy through to early adulthood (approximately age 24 years). This is an example of a nature-nurture dynamic playing out and with long term implications. Influences on the development of EFs range from home, family and school, to wider socio-cultural-economic domains, such as social and mainstream media.

Flip the Script: From Complexity to Opportunity

Rather than despair at the complexity, in my opinion, we can embrace the opportunity offered by EF mechanisms and work with them to narrow stubborn attainment gaps.

In my practice, rhythm-based techniques strengthen EF (attentional control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control) and help students respond to text with enjoyment and engagement.

These methods are equitable and low-cost, and the effects are often visible quickly—but I share them with care, i.e. only with professionals in regulated educational settings. 

This is a holistic approach, which invites each child to respond to rhythm (in their own way) in a small group context. 

Key takeaway: Rhythm-based learning is a practical lever for EF-related gains in comprehension—especially for students not yet realizing their potential in reading comprehension.

Learning steps

• Design for EF: build emotional safety into the school environment. Executive functions are, in evolutionary terms relatively new and are supported by quieter, calmer environments. When children do not settle within a quiet classroom, a rhythm-based programme can support them, and bring focus to self-regulation.

• Pilot rhythm-based sessions: Start with brief weekly practice windows and track changes in responsiveness to phonemic awareness, reading fluency and comprehension.

• Build ecological validity: The most effective approach in my opinion is to gather teacher observations on a term by term basis, as well as by tracking progress. Simple tools are available to support schools and teachers as they identify and record fine grained changes in reading.

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References

• Follmer, D. J. (2018). Executive function and reading comprehension: A meta-analytic review. Educational Psychologist, 53(1), 42–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2017.1309295. Taylor & Francis Online

• Peng, P., Barnes, M., Wang, C., Wang, W., Li, S., Swanson, H. L., Dardick, W., & Tao, S. (2018). A meta-analysis on the relation between reading and working memory. Psychological Bulletin, 144(1), 48–76. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29083201/. PubMed

• Escobar (Wang), J. P., Zhang, L., Zhang, J., & Wu, X. (2024). Relations between executive functions and reading comprehension: Evidence in Chilean fourth-graders. Brain Sciences, 14(12), 1174. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11674485/. PMC