Highlighting text improves students' comprehension of what they read.

Is it true that Highlighting text improves students' comprehension of what they read?

Partly. Evidence on whether highlighting improves reading comprehension is mixed: some studies report recall benefits for highlighted material, while a meta-analysis, a college-biology experiment, and a TTS study find no comprehension advantage, and one study finds pre-existing highlighting can interfere. No single source settles the general claim.

Verdict: CONTESTED PARTIAL · 4 sources for, 3 against · Last checked 3 Oct 2026

The private library was unavailable for some searches in this check. Missing library results are not evidence against the claim.

Does text highlighting distract from reading comprehension?. (2014). skeptics.stackexchange.com. https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/22979/does-text-highlighting-distract-from-reading-comprehension

L., S. V. & S., K. D. (1997). The Effects of Pre-Existing Inappropriate Highlighting on Reading Comprehension.. eric.ed.gov. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ547175

Mason, L., Ronconi, A., Carretti, B., Nardin, S., & Tarchi, C. (2024). Highlighting and Highlighted Information in Text Comprehension and Learning from Digital Reading. eric.ed.gov. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12903

R., P. H., E., M. R., & E., M. E. (2022). Effects of Learner-Generated Highlighting and Instructor-Provided Highlighting on Learning from Text: A Meta-Analysis. eric.ed.gov. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09654-1

Development of software to support argumentative reading and writing by means of creating a graphic organizer from an electronic text. (n.d.). cir.nii.ac.jp. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09676-1

Highlights as an Early Predictor of Student Comprehension and Interests. (2020). doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12901

Keelor, J. L., Creaghead, N. A., Silbert, N. H., Breit, A. D., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2023). Impact of text-to-speech features on the reading comprehension of children with reading and language difficulties.. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-023-00281-9