The effectiveness of parallel lessons in listening and silent reading was compared to a traditional basal approach to reading comprehension skills instruction. One hundred seventy-four fifth graders from sixteen randomly selected classrooms were divided into experimental and control groups. A pretest on four measures of comprehension was administered to all subjects. Treatment for the experimental group consisted of 14 weeks of intensive listening/reading transfer lessons in place of the normal basal instruction. Control groups received only the traditional basal instruction included within the scope and sequence of the teacher's manual. No significant differences existed between groups on the subtest for reading for information. However, significant differences were found on the subtests for reading for relationships, reading for interpretation, and reading for appreciation. Thus, the results showed that including a listening/reading transfer supplement to basal reading activities can positively affect the so-called upper levels of reading comprehension. (Author/RL)