Criteria for Research Quality

A study about reading instruction must meet the criteria listed below to be included in this database. These criteria, established by the National Reading Panel, will inform and guide future reviews of reading research.

A quality research study is one that:

• Employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment
• Involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn
• Relies on measurements or observational methods that provide valid data across evaluators and observers, and across multiple measurements and observations, and
• Has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparatively rigorous, objective, and scientific review.