Comprehension levels necessary to the acquisition and retention of facts, concepts, and rules and the facilitating effects of the use of orienting directions and postadjunct questions were investigated in a study involving 105 sixth-grade students. Four treatment groups each received a version of a six-page fictional passage, differing in the use of postadjunct questions and orienting directions. The students were further divided into low and high comprehension groups, using a 75% criterion on a parallel, multiple-choice cloze test. Results on a criterion test covering the three levels of learning used in the study indicated that a minimal reading comprehension level of approximately 75% was necessary for the acquisition of facts, concepts, and rules. Orienting directions and postadjunct questions did not improve the performance of low comprehension readers but did increase the retention of facts and information by high comprehension readers. (Author/AA)