Understanding the 8 Conditions of Comprehension
Thursday, October 8
7:00 p.m. Eastern
With Dr. Jan Burkins
Take an interactive tour of all eight conditions.
Save my seat →A special thank-you to Donna Trinca Schultz Hejtmanek for helping us spread the word within the Science of Reading—What I Should Have Learned in College Facebook community. We’re so grateful for her support!
Comprehension takes 8 conditions running all at once.
If any one of the eight conditions is a problem for a reader, comprehension gets compromised.
Comprehension Won’t Wait
Eight conditions have to hold at once for a reader to build a mental model and comprehend a text. Over three days, we will take up all eight conditions required for comprehension.
When & where
February 26, 27 & 28, 2027
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily · Registration at 8:00 a.m. on February 26
International School of Beijing
10 An Hua Street, Shunyi District
Beijing 101318, People’s Republic of China
Potential audience
K–5 classroom teachers, interventionists, literacy coaches, reading specialists, and school leaders. Educators at any point in their science of reading work are welcome.
Investment
USD 1,000 early bird through October 1, 2026
USD 1,050 early bird through December 1, 2026
USD 1,100 closing February 15, 2027
Included with registration
A copy of Building Better Mental Models: 8 Conditions of Comprehension, the little book the institute is based on, written by Jan Miller Burkins and Katie Egan Cunningham.
A Certificate of Participation for 24 professional development hours.
Day one · Feb 26
What is comprehension?
Comprehension as a mental model the reader builds and revises line by line, not a set of strategies laid over a text.
Day two · Feb 27
How should we teach it?
Each condition, one at a time, with routines and instructional moves you can use on Monday.
Day three · Feb 28
How can we assess it?
What widely used measures actually reveal, and formative ways to see the eight conditions in a child’s reading.
Hosted by Chapters International at the International School of Beijing.
