II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2788

To establish a strategic planning team to develop a plan for the dissemination

of research on reading.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 26, 2000

Mr. COCHRAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To establish a strategic planning team to develop a plan

for the dissemination of research on reading.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. READING RESEARCH DISSEMINATION AND IM4 PLEMENTATION PLAN.

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the

6 ‘‘Reading Research Dissemination and Implementation

7 Act’’.

8 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find9 ings:
2

•S 2788 IS

1 (1) The National Reading Panel was convened

2 to assess the status of research-based knowledge in

3 the area of reading development and instruction and

4 to evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches to

5 teaching children to learn to read.

6 (2) On April 13, 2000, the National Reading

7 Panel issued its report, ‘‘Teaching Children to Read:

8 An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Re9 search Literature on Reading and its Implications

10 for Reading Instruction’’.

11 (3) The National Reading Panel was to assess

12 the extent to which instructional approaches found

13 to be effective are ready for application in the class14 room, and to develop a strategy for rapidly dissemi15 nating the information on those approaches to

16 schools to facilitate effective reading instruction in

17 the schools.

18 (4) The National Reading Panel has completed

19 its assessment of the objective research-based knowl20 edge in the area of reading development and reading

21 instruction and has identified several instructional

22 strategies that have been clearly documented by re23 search to be effective for teaching the range of read24 ing skills to children of varying reading abilities.
3

•S 2788 IS

1 (5) The National Institute of Child Health and

2 Human Development has developed an initial dis3 semination strategy to provide all Members of Con4 gress, all colleges of education, all State departments

5 of education, and all public libraries in the Nation

6 with copies of the National Reading Panel’s report.

7 (6) A dissemination of findings, although help8 ful, does not typically lead to systematic and genuine

9 implementation of the critical research findings that

10 inform teacher preparation practices, classroom in11 structional practices, and educational policies.

12 (7) To ensure that research findings on effec13 tive reading instructional approaches are fully imple14 mented for the improvement of the education of our

15 Nation’s children, a strategic plan for the dissemina16 tion and implementation of the findings is necessary.

17 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF STRATEGIC PLANNING

18 TEAM.—The Assistant Secretary of Education for Edu19 cational Research and Improvement and the Director of

20 the National Institute of Child Health and Human Devel21 opment of the Department of Health and Human Services

22 shall jointly convene a strategic planning team to develop

23 the plan required under subsection (d). The team shall be

24 composed of the following:
4

•S 2788 IS

1 (1) The Chairman of the National Reading

2 Panel.

3 (2) Persons jointly appointed by the convening

4 officials from among persons who are representative

5 of each of the following:

6 (A) The National Institute of Child Health

7 and Human Development.

8 (B) The Department of Education.

9 (C) Teacher professional organizations.

10 (D) Parents.

11 (E) Presidents of institutions of higher

12 education.

13 (F) The teacher education colleges or de14 partments within institutions of higher edu15 cation.

16 (G) Private businesses.

17 (H) Public libraries.

18 (I) State boards of education.

19 (J) State directors of special education.

20 (K) The Governors of States.

21 (L) Publishers of reading textbooks.

22 (d) PLAN.—The Strategic Planning Team shall de23 velop and, not later than December 31, 2000, submit to

24 the Secretary of Education a plan—

25 (1) to determine—
5

•S 2788 IS

1 (A) the extent to which current teacher

2 preparation for both preservice and inservice

3 training incorporates the findings of the Na4 tional Reading Panel; and

5 (B) how any barriers to the incorporation

6 of those findings can be changed in order to in7 tegrate the findings into programs to educate

8 and certify teachers;

9 (2) to identify the deficiencies in instructional

10 materials, including textbooks and supplementary

11 materials, and to determine how materials might be

12 designed to correct the deficiencies in ways that re13 flect the findings of the National Reading Panel;

14 (3) to determine whether there are any barriers

15 in Federal and State policies that would preclude

16 appropriate adoption of the National Reading Panel

17 findings; and

18 (4) to identify specific strategies for collabora19 tion among businesses, public schools, teacher edu20 cation programs, university and college administra21 tors, and teacher-parent collaborations to guide and

22 ensure that evidence-based instructional practices

23 are implemented in teacher preparation, classroom

24 instruction, and Federal and State policies.
6

•S 2788 IS

1 (e) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.—Upon receiving the

2 plan under subsection (d), the Secretary of Education

3 shall immediately take the actions necessary to implement

4 the plan.

Æ