Panel to Assess New Readiness of Reading Research For Use In Nation's Classrooms

National Institute of ChildHealth, and Human DevelopmentFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Friday, March 27, 1998, Robert Bock

A new panel unveiled today will study the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching children how to read and to report on the best ways to apply these findings in classrooms and at home.

The National Reading Panel--requested by Congress and created by the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in consultation with the Secretary of Education (ED)--includes prominent reading researchers, teachers, child development experts, leaders in elementary and higher education, and parents.

The panel will build on the recently announced findings presented by the National Research Council's Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children.

Based on its review of the literature, the Panel will:

Determine the readiness for application in the classroom of the results of these research studies; Identify appropriate means to rapidly disseminate this information to facilitate effective reading instruction in the schools; and Identify gaps in the knowledge base for reading instruction and the best ways to close these gaps.

"Each panel member brings substantial experience and significant contributions in their respective fields to this task," said Dr. Duane Alexander, Director of the NICHD.

The 15 members of the panel were selected from among nearly 300 persons who were nominated by individuals and organizations interested in addressing research-based mechanisms to teach children to read. In order to obtain as broad a representation of nominees as possible, requests for nominations were sent to ED and NICHD scientists involved in reading research and to major reading and other scientific organizations and associations. The request for nominations also was sent to subscribers of the major electronic mailing lists that serve the reading community. From the responses of all these sources, the list of nominees was prepared and eventually panel members selected.

In accord with the legislative language requesting the panel, none of the panelists or the panel chair may be an officer or employee of the Federal Government.

The panel's inaugural meeting will take place at 9 AM on April 24 in Conference Room 10 of Building 31 on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. In the coming months, the full panel will meet several times in the Washington, DC area.

"The panel is soliciting written input from all interested parties," said National Reading Panel Chair, Dr. Donald N. Langenberg, Chancellor of the University System of Maryland. "In addition, the plans for the panel include convening several regional meetings. These meetings will afford local administrators, researchers, teachers, parents, and others around the country, the opportunity to attend a subcommittee meeting and to present their own views in person, without having to travel to the Washington area."

"An important feature of this report will be that everyone has had a chance to contribute," said Dr. Alexander. "Convened meetings of the panel will be open to the public and announced in advance in the Federal Register."

According to the legislative language, the panel's final report will be presented to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Education, and to appropriate congressional committees.

"The (reading panel's) report should present the panel's conclusions and an indication of the readiness for rapid application in the classroom of the results of this research," the original legislative language said.

A listing of the members of the National Reading Panel follows:

Dr. Donald Langenberg; Adelphi, Maryland (Chair). Eminent physicist and Chancellor of the 13-member University System of Maryland since 1990. Has served as the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Deputy Director (and Acting Director) of the National Science Foundation, Professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania, and President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society. Highly respected nationally and internationally for his leadership capabilities, his ability to forge consensus on difficult issues, and his dedication to education at all levels.

Dr. Gloria Correro; Mississippi State, Mississippi. Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Associate Dean for Instruction, Mississippi State University. Highly respected educator and teacher educator in Mississippi and the southeast and south central regions of the country. Credited with establishing kindergarten and early childhood programs in Mississippi, as well as the Mississippi Reading Assistant program. Member, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, Association of Teacher Educators, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Association for Childhood Education International, Phi Delta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi.

Dr. Linnea Ehri; New York, New York. Distinguished Professor, Ph.D. Program in Educational Psychology, Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. Nationally and internationally recognized scientist for her research on early reading development and instruction. Known among cognitive psychologists for her ability to identify aspects of pedagogy that are popular among teachers and to empirically examine the underlying assumptions of the pedagogy. Past President, Society for the Scientific Study of Reading; past Vice President, American Educational Research Association (Division C-Learning and Instruction); past member Board of Directors of the National Reading Conference; recipient of the Oscar S. Causey Award for Distinguished Research (National Reading Conference). Member, International Reading Association, Reading Hall of Fame, National Reading Conference, American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association (Fellow), and Society for the Scientific Study of Reading.

Mrs. Gwenette Ferguson; Houston, Texas. Reading Teacher, North Forest Independent School District (Houston). Chair, English Language Arts Department; Kirby Middle School Teacher of the Year (1991). Received the Kirby Middle School Award for Outstanding Dedication and Service (1988, 1989,1990); Houston Area Alliance of Black School Educators Outstanding Educator Award, and North Forest Independent School District Achieving Through Excellence Award. Member, National Council of Teachers of English, Texas Council of Teachers of English. Vice President Elect of Affiliates, North Forest District Reading Council, Greater Houston Area Reading Council, and Texas Classroom Teachers Association.

Ms. Norma Garza; Brownsville, Texas. Certified Public Accountant for Law Firm of Rodriguez, Colvin & Chaney, LLP. Parent of three sons, (ages 11, 14, 16). Founder and chair of the Brownsville Reads Task Force. Serves on the Governor's Focus on Reading Task Force, Governor's Special Education Advisory Committee, Texas panel member of Academics Goals 2000. Received the Texas State Board of Education "Heroes for Children" Award. Member, International Dyslexia Association. Strong advocate for business community involvement in education.

Dr. Robert Glaser; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Distinguished University Professor, Departments of Psychology and Education; Founding Director, Learning, Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh. Internationally recognized scholar in the psychology of learning, cognition, and instruction. Served as President of American Educational Research Association, President, National Academy of Education, and President, American Psychological Association (APA) Division of Educational Psychology and Evaluation and Measurement. Received the APA Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology; the APA Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics Award; the APA E. L. Thorndike Award; and the American Psychological Society James McKeen Cattell Award.

Dr. Michael Kamil; Stanford, California. Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture and Director Learning, Design, and Technology Program, School of Education, Stanford University. Serves as Chair, Stanford University Commission on Technology in Teaching and Learning Grants Committee, Chair, Technology Committee of the National Reading Conference (NRC). Former member of the Board of Directors of the National Reading Conference and the National Conference for Research in English. Formerly, editor of the Journal of Reading Behavior (1988-89); Editor NRC Yearbook (1980-82) and Co-editor of Reading Research Quarterly (1991-1995). Co-authored Understanding Research in Reading and Writing and co-edited Volumes I and II of The Handbook of Reading Research. Received Albert J. Kingston Award from the National Reading Conference and the Milton Jacobson Readability Research Award from the International Reading Association. Currently, member of the American Psychological Association, American Educational Research Association, International Reading Association, National Conference for Research in English (Fellow), and the National Reading Conference.

Dr. Cora Bagley Marrett; Amherst, Massachusetts. Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Massachusetts-Amherst. As Assistant Director, National Science Foundation (1992-1996), was first person to lead the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. Also served as Director of the United Negro College Fund/Mellon Programs; Associate Chairperson for Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin; and member, Board of Directors, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Served in 1979 on the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. Member, Board of Governors, Argonne National Laboratory; Board of Directors, Social Science Research Council; Commission on the Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council; Peer Review Oversight Group for the National Institutes of Health; National Advisory Council for the Fogarty International Center, also of the National Institutes of Health. Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Vice President, American Sociological Association.

Dr. S. J. Samuels; Minneapolis, Minnesota. Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota. Recipient of the College of Education Distinguished Teaching Award. Internationally respected reading researcher. Highly experienced consultant to inner-city schools. Selected for the Reading Hall of Fame. Received the Wm. S. Gray Citation of Merit from the International Reading Association and the Oscar O. Causey Award from the National Reading Conference for Distinguished Research in Reading. Member of the Governing Council, Center for Research in Perception, Learning and Cognition at the University of Minnesota; American Educational Research Association; American Psychological Association (Fellow); International Reading Association; and National Reading Conference.

Dr. Timothy Shanahan; Chicago, Illinois. Professor of Urban Education, Director of the Center for Literacy, and Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Reading, Writing, and Literacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Internationally recognized reading researcher with extensive experience with children in Head Start, children with special needs, and children in inner-city schools. Editor of the Yearbook of the National Reading Conference and formerly Associate Editor of the Journal of Reading Behavior. Received the Albert J. Harris Award for Outstanding Research on Reading Disability and the Milton D. Jacobson Readability Research Award from the International Reading Association. Member, American Educational Research Association, International Reading Association, National Council on Research in Language and Literacy, National Council of Teachers of English, National Reading Conference, and Society for the Study of Reading.

Dr. Sally Shaywitz; New Haven, Connecticut. Professor of Pediatrics and Co-Director, Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, Yale University School of Medicine. Neuroscientist nationally and internationally recognized for research contributions in reading development and reading disorders, including recent demonstration of neurobiological substrate of reading and reading disability. Unique for contribution to development of conceptual model of reading and reading disability and for identifying high prevalence of reading disability in girls. Received Distinguished Alumnus Award, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Most recently served on National Academy of Sciences Panel on Preventing Reading Difficulties in Children. Diplomate, American Board of Pediatrics; member, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Educational Research Association, Council for Exceptional Children, International Dyslexia Association, Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Society for Pediatric Research, Society for Research and Child Development, and Society for the Scientific Study of Reading.

Dr. Thomas Trabasso; Chicago, Illinois. Irving B. Harris Professor, Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago. Cognitive scientist internationally recognized for investigations of comprehension during reading. Has most recently developed a connectionist model that simulates dynamic processing over the course of reading. Has served as Chair of Department of Psychology, Editor of Cognitive Psychology, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. Member, Psychonomic Society, Society for Research and Child Development, American Educational Research Association, International Reading Association, National Reading Conference, American Psychological Society, Society for Discourse and Text Processing (Founding Member and Chair), and Society for the Scientific Study of Reading.

Dr. Joanna Williams; New York, New York. Professor of Psychology and Education, Columbia University. Internationally recognized scholar for research on linguistic, cognitive, and perceptual bases of reading development and disorders. Fulbright Scholar, University of Paris; Oscar S. Causey Award for Outstanding Contributions to Reading Research from the National Reading Council; elected to Reading Hall of Fame (1994); and recognized as a Guy Bond Scholar by the University of Minnesota (1997). Currently serves as Editor of Scientific Studies in Reading and has served as the Editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology. Member, American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association (Fellow), Council for Exceptional Children, International Reading Association, National Conference on Research in English, National Reading Conference, New York Academy of Sciences, and Society for the Scientific Study of Reading.

Dr. Dale Willows; Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Professor, Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Internationally recognized scholar in reading development and reading difficulties. Has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Research on Reading and Reading Research Quarterly. Member, American Educational Research Association, International Dyslexia Association, International Reading Association, and National Reading Conference.

Dr. Joanne Yatvin; Portland, Oregon. Principal, Cottrell and Bull Run Schools, Boring, Oregon. Forty-one years' experience as a classroom teacher and school administrator. Served as Chair of the Committee on Centers of Excellence for English and the Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of English. President of the Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English and the Madison (Wisconsin) Area Reading Council, and a member of the National Advisory Board, Educational Resources Information Center on Reading and Communication Skills ERIC/RCS. Named Elementary Principal of the Year by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Wisconsin State Reading Association. Received the Distinguished Elementary Education Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin School of Education. Member, National Council of Teachers of English, International Reading Association, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and Oregon Reading Association.