RESEARCHERS AT UH HONORED FOR STUDY IN
READING EDUCATION
Psychology Professors Acknowledged by International
Reading Association
HOUSTON, March 9, 2006 – The International Reading Association
has recognized two University of Houston faculty members for their
research efforts in enhancing children’s reading skills.
David Francis, chairman of the psychology department and director
of the Texas Institute for Measurement Evaluation and Statistics,
and Jack Fletcher, UH distinguished professor of psychology, were
among the recipients of the association’s Albert J. Harris
Award. The award recognizes a recently published journal article
or monograph that makes an outstanding contribution to the understanding
of prevention or assessment of reading or learning disabilities.
Francis and Fletcher recently were honored for the paper “An
Evaluation of Two Reading Interventions Derived from Diverse Models,”
which was published in Reading Research Quarterly.
The paper details the introduction of small group tutorial reading
programs for 292 first-graders in six Houston schools. These efforts
helped reduce the number of at-risk readers from 20 percent to 1.5
percent.
“The award for this research paper reflects the evidence from
the study showing that most reading problems could be prevented
by combining enhanced classroom instruction with supplemental small
group instruction,” Fletcher said.
This study also supports the multi-tiered reading interventions
used by schools participating in the Reading First component of
the U.S. Department of Education’s No Child Left Behind program.
Additionally, it supports the idea that effective reading instruction
reduces the number of students at risk for learning disabilities
or related problems.
The research and paper were a collaborative effort between researchers
at UH and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
(UTHSCH).
The rest of the investigation team included former UH professors
Jason Anthony (now at UTHSCH) and Chris Schatschneider (now at Florida
State University) and former UTHSCH professors Patricia Mathes (now
at SMU) and Carolyn Denton (now at the University of Texas at Austin).
“It’s always gratifying to have one’s research
recognized by peers for its contribution to the field,” Francis
said. “This award is especially rewarding because it reflects
the extent to which the organization values experimental research.”
Funding for this research was made possible by the Interagency Education
Research Initiative, a consortium representing the National Science
Foundation, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,
and the Institute for Education Sciences.
TIMES was founded in 2001 as a multi-disciplinary research center
to consolidate the methodological and statistical expertise on the
UH campus. It is a university-wide institute that conducts independent
research while offering UH researchers a variety of statistical
support services.
Recently, the center received more than $11 million from the U.S.
Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences
to create the National Research and Development Center for English
Language Learners and to continue its earlier work on the development
of the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading Comprehension for English
Language Learners.
The International Reading Association (IRA) is a professional organization
for those involved in teaching reading to learners of all ages.
Its 90,000 members include teachers, researchers, students, administrators
and tutors. It presents the Albert J. Harris Award annually to literacy
professionals.
For more information on TIMES, visit http://www.tlc2.uh.edu/times.
For more information on the International Reading Association or
the Albert J. Harris Award, visit http://www.reading.org/.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
For more information about UH visit
the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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