Charge

Commission on Reading Research Overview

The Partnership for Reading, a project of the National Institute for Literacy, is establishing the Commission on Reading Research with a charge to assess the current status of research-based knowledge, including the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching reading to children. The Commission will build on the work of the National Reading Panel (NRP) in identifying and reporting research evidence that can enhance the practice of reading instruction for children in kindergarten through grade 12.

The Commission will select topics for study, including, but not limited to, the topics addressed by the NRP. The Commission will develop questions about the selected topics and determine the most appropriate methodologies to use to answer the questions. The types of studies to be reviewed will be determined by the research questions the Commission establishes. If experimental and quasi-experimental studies are appropriate to answer a question, the Commission will use the criteria developed by the NRP to review the research. If descriptive and correlational studies are appropriate, the Commission will first develop criteria to guide the review of those studies and then apply the criteria to studies that address the research question.

The Commission, whose members will serve for two years, will produce three products.

1. A methodology documenting the criteria and process to be used by the Commission to identify, select, and recommend research studies for expanding the scientific base of knowledge in order to inform practice.
2. A list of reading research studies which meet the Commission's criteria, with full references to be added to The Partnership's dissemination database for informational and teacher education purposes.
3. A report of the Commission's conclusions that includes full references for all studies and recommendations for future research.