In April, The Atlantic published an article by Natalie Wexler that references research on the role of general knowledge in reading. Wexler begins by talking about national testing (National Assessment of Educational Progress/NAEP), then quickly moves on to address reading comprehension. She points to research that shows the limits of mastering reading comprehension skills which don’t “ensure a young student will be able to apply them to whatever texts they’re confronted with on standardized tests and in their studies later in life.” In fact, according to psychology professor Daniel Willingham, evidence suggests that background knowledge and vocabulary are critical to reading comprehension.
Here’s a link to the article:
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/04/-american-students-reading/557915/
And here’s a link to a short video by Daniel Willingham: