THREE FEDERAL ORGANIZATIONS ANNOUNCE $18.5 MILLION GRANT AWARDS TO FIRST ADULT LITERACY RESEARCH NETWORKContact: Lynn Reddy 202.233.2052 WASHINGTON, October 2, 2002 - A new research network unveiled today will study the most effective methods and approaches for teaching reading skills to low-literate adults, using $18.5 million in grants from the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), Office of Adult and Vocational Education of the US Department of Education, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health. The funds, to be used over a five-year period, will fund six individual research projects focused on adult literacy instruction. The projects within the network will design, develop, implement and study the effectiveness of adult literacy interventions for low-literate adults, including the role of decoding, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension instruction and explicitness of instruction. These are the components of reading that have been shown to be essential in teaching reading to younger students, but instructional methods for teaching them to adults have not been thoroughly investigated. "The projects to be funded were chosen based on rigorous peer review, conducted at the NIH," NIFL Director Sandra Baxter said. "We are confident that the cumulative findings of their work will significantly improve the way we teach adults to read and how we detect reading disabilities." The 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey found that 20% of American adults have literacy skills low enough to make reading labels on food, or filling out job applications difficult. The research priorities outlined in the solicitation for applications builds on previous research such as that of the National Reading Panel, and addresses the major gaps outlined in a document by the Reading Research Working Group. This group began with a meeting cosponsored by NIFL and the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy at Harvard University. All six of the funded studies will employ experimental or quasi-experimental designs, one including a neuroimaging component. Although these projects will not be completed for five years, by the end of the first year the investigators will be reporting on their ongoing progress and preliminary findings. A listing of the principal investigators and their institutions follows: Daphne Greenberg, Georgia State University Susan Levy, University of Illinois Daryl Mellard, University of Kansas - Lawrence John Sabatini, Educational Testing Services Frank Wood, Wake Forest University of the Health Sciences Richard Venezky, University of Delaware The federal partners cosponsored a series of technical assistance workshops during early 2002 to help potential applicants develop sound proposals. In order to be considered for funding, proposals had to be submitted to NICHD by May 15. "We feel that this is a significant effort in an important but under-researched area, and we are very pleased that the technical assistance we offered for this competition has paid off," stated Peggy McCardle, Associate Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch at NICHD. "We look forward to the first meeting of the principal investigators, which will take place within the next two months. We want to see these researchers collaborating and sharing designs, measures, and ideas, to produce the most rigorous studies possible." "This type of in-depth study is crucial to understanding the best ways to teach low-literate adults," said Assistant Secretary D'Amico, Office of Vocational and Adult Education. "Armed with scientifically-based reading instruction methods we can equip adults with the reading and writing skills needed for better jobs and opportunities." For more information and a summary document, go to: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/crmc/cdb/AFL_workshop.htm To view the Reading Research Working Group document, go to: http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/adult_reading/adult_reading.html |
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