Multiple Measures of Text Summarization Proficiency: What Can Fifth-Grade Students Do?

Given the existing literature on text summarization that documents what learners, particularly younger learners, cannot do, a study was designed to assess what fifth-grade students can do. Thirty students at two reading levels read an expository text, produced a summary, reflected on the summarizing process, and identified good and bad summaries for the text. Both successful and less successful readers were fairly adept at recognizing good summaries, but proficiency group differences emerged for production and reflection measures. Readers in both proficiency groups performed at below-ceiling levels on the production and reflection measures.