A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

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National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Research Supports the America Reads Challenge

G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D.
Chief, Learning Disabilities, Cognitive, and Social Development Branch
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Edward J. Kameenui, Ph.D.
Director, Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement, College of Education,
University of Oregon; and
Associate Director, National Center To Improve
the Tools of Educators

The America Reads Challenge recognizes the supreme importance of an early and successful start to learning to read. Providing children with the right literacy and reading experiences in the early years is likely to set the stage for successful reading and citizenship in later years. To determine the literacy, language, and reading experiences that are important for young readers, we rely on the substantial research that has been conducted in beginning reading by researchers all over the world, and particularly by researchers at Federally sponsored agencies in the United States. An agency that has contributed significantly to this knowledge is the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The NICHD supported research is truly distinctive because of its methodological rigor in an area that had been considered challenging for scientific investigation and where scientific knowledge has sometimes been obscured by philosophical and ideological positions. The NICHD program of research in reading is conducted by over 100 researchers in education, psychology, linguistics and medicine at 18 research sites in the United States, and has produced over 2,000 refereed journal articles and books since 1965, when the language and reading research program was initiated.

Because of concern about the growing incidence of reading problems and learning disabilities in the general population, in 1985 the Health Research Extension Act gave NICHD a new charge -- to improve the quality of reading research by conducting rigorous, long-term, prospective, longitudinal, and multidisciplinary studies. This kind of research requires careful planning, involves many disciplines (e.g. education, psychology, linguistics, medicine), recognizes the importance of testing competing theories, includes large samples of subjects/participants, relies on a range of carefully developed measures, implements long-term treatments typically that last at least one year or longer with extended follow-up (typically one-to-three years post-treatment). In some studies, children's growth in reading is observed from five years of age until 23 years of age. This research is enormously difficult to conduct but of significant importance if we are to understand the nature of reading development and difficulties in children and adults. For many years, reading research has been hampered because support for long-term studies was not available and because many earlier studies did not describe the children or the assessment/teaching methods used with sufficient precision.

So, how does the NICHD research support the America Reads Challenge? In many clear and substantive ways. The NICHD research supports the following propositions about "learning to read" (early years from preschool to grade 3), and "reading to learn" (grades 4-12) for all children:

• Although the eyes make visual contact with the printed word, the critical work involves the sounds (phonemes) of language. Many NICHD studies show that a reader's ability to remember, imitate, recall, manipulate (pull sounds apart and put them back together again), recode (switch between sound, visual, and semantic codes), and articulate sounds is essential to early reading.

• The ability to process sounds that are heard (called phonological processing) consistently differentiates good readers and poor readers. This ability is not dependent on intelligence, SES, or parent education. Good phonological processing is necessary in order to decode and read new words quickly and accurately.

• In turn, the most reliable indicator of difficulties in comprehending what is read is the ability to read words quickly and accurately (called word recognition).

• Reading is indeed learned and therefore, must be taught, supported and sustained. Reading does not come naturally as does speech, and relies heavily on how we hear and manipulate sounds even before we see printed words.

• Reading the English language requires understanding the alphabetic writing system -- understanding that the alphabetic print must be converted into sounds and meaningful messages.

• Effective classroom instruction in the early grades by well prepared teachers is the most powerful method for preventing reading and learning problems. When teaching youngsters who have a difficult time learning to read, the research indicates that explicit, systematic instruction is most effective in teaching reading. This instruction should:
  1. teach phonemic awareness (e.g. tell me the sounds in the word "sat") at an early age (kindergarten);

  2. teach the common sound-spelling relationships in words;

  3. teach children how to say the sounds in the words;

  4. use text that is composed of words that use sound-spelling correspondences that children have learned;

  5. use interesting stories to develop vocabulary and language comprehension; and

  6. the most effective classroom method for early reading instruction involves a combination of explicit instruction in word recognition skills and reading comprehension strategies with opportunities to apply and practice these skills in literature.

IN CONDUCTING STUDIES WITH THE 17 TO 20 PERCENT OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE SERIOUS READING DIFFICULTIES, THE NICHD RESEARCH PROGRAM HAS LEARNED THE FOLLOWING:

• Substantial converging evidence supports the theory that significant reading problems are the result of a "phonological core deficit" in which readers have difficulty acquiring, retaining, manipulating, and recoding the phonemes or sounds of the English language.

• Without early identification and early intervention (before entry into the third grade), reading difficulties severe enough to hinder learning and the enjoyment of reading will persist into adulthood unless intensive and specialized remediation programs are provided.

• The most effective instructional reading methods appear to involve a combination of explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, explicit instruction in sound-symbol relationships (phonics), and direct and integrated instruction in the reading of text and reading comprehension strategies. A balanced and complete teaching approach appears necessary for both children and adults with reading difficulties.

• Moreover, many children and adults who are not identified as "disabled" report that they do not read on a regular basis either to learn new information or for enjoyment. These individuals report that reading is difficult for them because they cannot read words quickly, which, in turn, limits their exposure to reading materials which they might otherwise learn from and enjoy.

THE NICHD PROGRAM OF RESEARCH IS REFLECTED IN PRESIDENT CLINTON'S AMERICA READS CHALLENGE IN MANY WAYS:

1. Learning to read in the early years is of supreme importance and America Reads gives appropriate and powerful focus to this unequivocal finding.

2. Supporting language and reading activities in the early years -- asking children to read at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week; encouraging children to learn a new vocabulary word a day, five days a week; asking children to get a library card and use it -- is very important and will require the substantial human resources (parents and volunteers) that the America Reads Challenge provides.

3. Nurturing a child's interests and skills -- in using language and learning to read -- as early as possible is essential and America Reads recognizes the unique role that parents play in the early years.

4. Initiating and maintaining reading and literacy experiences are critical and America Reads promotes the necessary community partnerships between schools, businesses, and professional organizations to support these experiences.

5. Improving reading skills requires active engagement in appropriate and sustained reading and literacy activities. America Reads acknowledges the importance of sustained engagement in reading activities by the Individualized After-School and Summer Tutoring Initiative.

In summary, America Reads appears to complement and reinforce the research that has emerged from the NICHD program of research in strategic ways:

• Provides important insights into the nature of the reading process;
• Focuses attention on the urgency of an early and successful start to learning to read;
• Provides mechanisms to extend opportunities to read; and
• Instills in children and adults the importance and potential of reading.

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