Observing two English language countries similar to our own divesting themselves of a formerly entrenched national model of reading instruction must be unnerving to those who continue to support its maintenance in Australia. Kerry Hempenstall Findings of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Reid Lyon coordinates the parallel investigation of similar questions across several centers. Under Lyon's leadership, the researchers determine that the questions have been answered only when the findings replicate across researchers and settings. Findings with a high degree of replicability are finally considered incontrovertible findings and then form the basis for additional research questions.
Funding is awarded the research centers through a competitive peer review process.
A panel of researchers who are not competing for the research funds award the funds after evaluating competing proposals according to specific criteria. The average length of a study has been eight years, with a range of 3 years to 31 years. In the decades-long studies, the growth of children from preschool through adulthood has been evaluated. This longer-tern design allows evaluation of the effects of different instructional variables on later reading performance. The ability to read fluently for meaning depends primarily on rapid, automatic decoding and recognition at the level of the single word.