National Reading Panel

Formation• Congress requested its

formation in 1997.• Asked to assess the

status of research-based knowledge about reading and the effectiveness of approaches to teaching reading.

• Formed by the director of the National Institute of Child Health with the help of the sec. of Education.

Background• 14 people• Include

– Prominent reading researchers, – Teachers, – Child development experts,– Leaders in elementary and higher

education– Parents

• Met over two years• Results

– two reports– video titled Prepared to read

Information Gathering

What information did the panel want to gather?

– Determine what research had been gathered on how children learn to read.

– Determine the publics needs and understanding of the research.

– Consult with leading educational groups concerned with reading issues

How the Information Was Gathered?

• Public Hearings• Educational Organizations• Scientific Studies

Five Public Hearings in 1998

• Held in New York; Chicago; Huston; Jackson, MS; and Portland, OR.

• Testimony given by 125 individuals or organizations.

Outcomes of Hearings

• Noted impact of early care givers such as parents

• Highlighted importance of early identification of at risk children

• Stressed the importance of phonemic awareness and varying teaching approaches

• Urged the inclusion of – experimental studies and scientific

standards be used– Professional development for

teachers– Wide dissemination of panels

findings

Scientific Studies

The Public Data Base• They found 100,000

research studies on reading

• A way to narrow the selections needed to be devised

Selecting Studies for Review

• Criteria for Topics– Central to the issues of learning how

to read– Addresses critical skills,

environments, and early interactions• Criteria for Choosing Studies

– Appeared in English in a refereed journal

– Focused on children’s reading development from preschool through grade12.

– Were experimental or quasi-experimental in design

– Included a sample size that was large– Procedures were well defined

Selected Research Topics

• Phonemic Awareness• Reading Fluency• Reading Comprehension• Teacher Training• Computer Technology

Phonemic

Awareness

Phonemes

• the smallest unit making up spoken language.

• Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to focus on and manipulate phonemes in spoken words.

Phonics Instruction

• Away of teaching (not the knowledge itself) which stresses:– Learning how letters

correspond to sounds– How to apply this

knowledge in reading and spelling

Systematic Phonics Instruction• Occurs when children

receive explicit, systematic instruction in a set of pre-specified associations between letters and sounds.*

* from the NRP web site.

Panel’s Conclusions On Phonemic Awareness

• Teaching children to manipulate the sounds in language helps them:– Learn to read– Significantly improves their

reading more than other methodologies

– Significantly improves spelling

Reading Fluency

Reading Fluency

• Definition – being able to read out loud with speed, accuracy and proper expression.*

* From the NRP web sight

Guided oral reading vs. Independent silent reading

• Guided Oral reading– Has a significant, positive impact

on comprehension, word recognition and reading fluency

– Gains are made with student of all ages

• Independent Silent Reading– Affect on reading fluency is

inconclusive– More research is needed to

understand specific influences on reading fluency

Reading Comprehensi

on

Three Main Themes of Reading Comprehension

• Vocabulary development and instruction play a role in the understanding of the cognitive process involved with reading comprehension.

• For comprehension to take place the reader and the text must intentionally interact in the process.

• The achievement of students in the area of comprehension is linked to teachers who were prepared and instructed in equipping students to develop and apply reading comprehension strategies

Panel conclusions on Reading Comprehension

• Vocabulary Development– Should be taught directly and indirectly– Repetition is important– computer technology, rich contexts,

incidental learning are beneficial• Text Comprehension

– Is improve with a combination of techniques

• Examples include: question answering question generation and summarization

• Professional Development – Teacher should receive formal

instruction on strategies to teach reading comprehension.

– More research is needed to determine which teacher preparations are the most effective.

Professional Development

Panel’s Conclusions

• Professional development for teachers results in significantly higher achievement for students of both established and new teachers

• There is a gap in the relationship between teacher education and development of standards

• More research is needed to determine the right combinations of inservice and preservice training

Computer Technology

Panel's Findings and Conclusions

• According to the panel’s website the research is too limited to make any strong recommendations, however all the studies indicate positive results suggesting that the use of computer technology for reading instruction is very promising