High school students are challenged to meet higher standards in order to ensure that they are prepared to face the literacy demands of our twenty-first century society (Beaufort, 2009; A. S. Erickson, Kleinhammer-Tramill, & Thurlow, 2007; Vernon, Baytops, McMahon, Padden, & Walther-Thomas, 2003). This study examined both above average high school readers and high school readers with learning disabilities in order to better understand the impact of twelve years of formal education on reading skills and strategy use while reading expository text. Specifically, this study examined how the readers employed strategies related to knowledge construction, monitoring, and evaluating while reading using verbal protocol analysis. Additionally, students' self-perceptions of reading strategy use and comprehension was assessed through the use of survey, objective assessment and written retelling. Thirteen students with learning disabilities and twelve students with above average reading skills participated in this study. This study suggests that above average readers and students with learning disabilities do share some characteristics. Both groups of students used rereading and paraphrasing as their primary mode of knowledge construction. Additionally, both groups self-reported similar reading strategies as useful. However, the above average readers used the strategies more effectively and self-reported using reading strategies with more frequency. This study suggests that students with learning disabilities may benefit from continued instruction at the secondary level in effective strategy use.
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