U.S. Assistant Secretary for Education Research and Improvement Russ Whitehurst announced today that the first meeting of the National Literacy Panel will be today from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Center for Applied Linguistics offices at 4646 40th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.

The panel, composed of well-known scholars, will identify, assess, and synthesize the literacy research knowledge base related to the education of language minority children and youth. Members of the National Literacy Panel and their support contractor, SRI International and the Center for Applied Linguistics (SRI/CAL), will produce a comprehensive report that evaluates and synthesizes the research literature and provides research-based recommendations to guide educational practice and inform educational policy.

"The president's No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 puts a strong emphasis on using education practices and programs based on sound, scientifically-based research," Whitehurst said. "This panel will be taking a good, hard look at the existing research that could enhance literacy achievement among our nation's youth."

The formation of the 13-member National Literacy Panel of scholars represents an opportunity for the department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) to further advance knowledge on language minority children and youth. Accordingly, members of the panel will review and synthesize scientific research from education and related cognitive science disciplines. Members of the panel also will solicit input from representatives of the research, policy and practitioner communities to ensure that the review and their recommendations for improving future research methodologies, syntheses, and practice are based on the highest standards of inquiry.

OERI expects that members of the National Literacy Panel will produce a report that provides clear, evidence-based conclusions and recommendations for audiences concerned with the education of language minority children and youth.

The two-year contract to SRI/CAL extends the research initiative launched in FY 1999 to develop new knowledge relevant to the critical factors that influence the development of English-language literacy (reading and writing) competencies among children whose first language is Spanish.

Under the Development of English Literacy in Spanish Speaking Children (DELSS) partnership, OERI and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) are seeking to stimulate systematic multidisciplinary research to increase understanding of the specific cognitive, linguistic, sociocultural, and instructional factors - and the complex interactions among these factors - that govern the acquisition of English reading and writing abilities for Spanish-speaking children and youth. Members of the panel will review the broad research literature on literacy for language minority children and youth.

National Literacy Panel Members:

• Dr. Isabel Beck, professor, School of Education and Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh
• Dr. Margarita Calderon, senior research scientist, Center for Research on the Education Of At Risk Students (CRESPAR), Johns Hopkins University
• Dr. David Francis, professor, Department of Psychology, University of Houston
• Dr. Georgia Earnest Garcia, professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Dr. Esther Geva, professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto
• Dr. Fred Genesee, professor, Psychology Department, McGill University, Montreal
• Dr. Claude Goldenberg, professor, Department of Teacher Education, California State University
• Dr. Michael Kamil, professor, School of Education, Stanford University
• Dr. Keiko Koda, professor, Department of Modern Language, Carnegie Mellon University
• Dr. Gail McKoon, professor, Cognition, Psychology and Psycholinguistics, Northwestern University
• Dr. Robert Rueda, professor, Division of Learning and Instruction, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California
• Dr. Linda Siegel, professor, Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia
• Dr. Robert Slavin, co-director, Center for Research on the Education Of At Risk Students (CRESPAR) and CEO, The Success For All Foundation, Johns Hopkins University

Principal Project Contacts:

SRI/CAL

• Dr. Diane August, principal investigator, CAL daugust@msn.com
• Dr. Marilyn Gillespie, project manager, SRI International Gillespie@wdc.sri.com

OERI/ED

• Gil Narro Garcia, project manager, NIEARS gil.garcia@ed.gov
• Patricia Gore, director, NIEARS pat.gore@ed.gov
• Dr. Valerie Reyna, senior research advisor, OAS Valerie.reyna@ed.gov

Staff Advisory Committee:

• Dr. Peggy McCardle, NICHD/NIH
• Dr. Sandra Baxter, NIFL
• Dr. Joseph Young, NSF
• Dr. Cecile McKee, NSF
• Gil Narro Garcia, OERI

###

Top

Back to May 2002