Correct Response: D. Option D is correct because this explanation identifies comprehension challenges frequently associated with informational texts that are independent of the reader's decoding ability. For a student to comprehend a text during reading, they must be able not only to decode each word but also connect the decoded words to words in their oral vocabulary. Content knowledge and academic vocabulary are important components of the background knowledge demands of informational texts. Research has shown that if a reader does not understand the meaning of at least 90 percent of the words in a text, comprehension breaks down. Therefore, a student with strong decoding skills but limited academic vocabulary and content knowledge related to grade-level informational texts may be able to decode the texts accurately but still not be able to make sense of them. Options A and B are incorrect because the student in the scenario already demonstrates automaticity decoding grade-level regular and irregular words, so phonologically based deficits are not likely causing the student's comprehension difficulties. Likewise, Option C is incorrect because readers use syntactic clues as a strategy for determining a word's grammatical function in a sentence. For example, this can be helpful for verifying the meaning and pronunciation of a multiple-meaning word in a text. However, a weakness in interpreting syntactic clues is not likely to be the primary cause of the student's consistent comprehension difficulties with informational texts.
