Federal Agencies Fund UT-Houston Reading Research

University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center researchers will lead a project exploring ways to improve reading instruction for first-graders under an innovative grant program launched by three federal agencies.

The $3.9 million grant, one of only 14 awarded nationally, will tap the expertise of a variety of scientific disciplines - including advanced brain imaging technology - in an effort to better prevent, identify and remediate early reading difficulties.

"To address such complex issues, we have to start integrating knowledge across domains," says Dr. Jack Fletcher, principal investigator in the study, professor of pediatrics at the UT-Houston Medical School and the University's Center for Academic and Reading Skills (CARS). The project blends the efforts of reading educators, cognitive and developmental psychologists, neuroscientists, engineers and research methodologists in a partnership with a suburban school district.

There are three parts to the study:

Part one involves 384 students and 40 teachers in evaluating two widely used instructional approaches in early grades to see how well they learn to read. Lead investigator is Dr. Patricia Mathes, associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical School and CARS.

Part two employs a safe, non-invasive imaging method called magnetoencephalography to understand how the brain changes as children learn to read and whether effective educational programs produce similar changes. This will involve 120 children from the first study and will show how reading skills become encoded in the brain. Lead investigator is Dr. Andrew Papanicolaou, UT-Houston professor of neurosurgery.

Part three examines how the introduction of different types of words in reading selections affects literacy development over time, especially for children at risk for reading problems. Dr. Barbara Foorman, professor of pediatrics and CARS director, will lead this study.

Dr. Fletcher says researchers from the University of Southern California, University of Michigan and University of Pittsburgh also will participate.

National awards totaling $28.5 million were announced recently by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under the new Interagency Education Research Initiative. The grants support research into improving instruction in reading, math and science from preschool to the 12th grade, focusing on use of information and computer technologies.

"These research projects are addressing real-world problems facing today's teachers and parents, including how to best help children successfully develop reading and math skills early in their academic careers," says James Griffin, IERI team leader from the Department of Education Office of Education Research and Improvement. "The majority of these studies include children from diverse racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds, ensuring that the research will reflect the day-to-day realities of students, parents and teachers."

- Scott Merville

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmc-info@tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/01_15_00/page_08.html