NEWS RELEASE

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2006

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GRANT FOR $8.5M HELPS UH PROFS ESTABLISH
LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH CENTER
Texas Researchers to Study Methods of Helping
Students Overcome Classroom Obstacles

HOUSTON, Aug. 24, 2006 – Learning disabilities often present challenges that extend beyond the classroom. If unrecognized during a student’s formative years, they can hinder self-esteem and ultimately deter the potential to lead a successful life. Recently, University of Houston researchers received a significant boost in their efforts to understand and overcome such obstacles.

Thanks to an $8.5 million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), researchers from the University of Houston’s Department of Psychology, the Texas Institute for Measurement Evaluation and Statistics (TIMES) and other institutions have created the Texas Center for Learning Disabilities (TCLD). Located at the UH Texas Medical Center Annex at 2151 W. Holcombe Blvd., it is one of only four NICHD-funded research centers in the country dedicated exclusively to learning disabilities. The others are based at Florida State University, Johns Hopkins/University of Maryland and the University of Colorado.

“Historically, learning disabilities haven’t had a real firm research base,” said Jack Fletcher, UH distinguished professor of psychology and the center’s principal investigator. “This center is intended to help fill this gap. It allows for concentrated research on learning disabilities and the development of an evidence base to identify and treat them.”

Previous research has suggested that the number of students identified as learning disabled could be reduced through more effective classroom instruction. Researchers at TCLD are working with school districts in Austin and Houston to implement reading instruction methods that systematically intensify as students show progress.

Students’ responses to this instruction method will be documented and then evaluated at TIMES. During this evaluation, researchers also will examine the process involved with identifying learning disabled students considering factors such as accuracy (the ability to correctly name a word on a page) fluency (the ability to read text with speed, accuracy and proper expression) and comprehension (understanding text).

Students who respond inadequately to this reading instruction can then participate in TCLD’s neuroimaging studies, which are conducted at the University of Texas – Health Science Center.

“We’re trying to understand what areas of the brain are involved in reading and whether these areas change in response to intervention,” Fletcher said.

Working alongside Fletcher at TCLD is David Francis, chair of the UH psychology department and director of TIMES. They are joined by researchers with backgrounds in neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, reading intervention, special education and methodology. They include Sharon Vaughn and Carolyn Denton from the University of Texas at Austin and Andrew Papanicolaou and Shirin Sarkari from the UT Health Science Center.

“Research in this area requires people from multiple disciplines and samples that are large and diverse,” Fletcher said. “We’re involving people with different perspectives and from different areas of Texas to provide broad insight into the dynamics surrounding learning disabilities.”

The funds from NIHCD add to the list of research grants received by the UH Department of Psychology and TIMES to observe and enhance learning outcomes for students.

Last year, TIMES received more than $11 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) 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. In 2003, TIMES received $8 million from IES to develop, implement and evaluate two models of instruction for Spanish-speaking English language learners in elementary school. Also in 2003, TIMES and Fletcher received $4.7 million to examine the factors that account for individual differences in the development of mathematical proficiencies in children with different types of learning disabilities in math.

Earlier this year, Fletcher and Francis received the Albert J. Harris Award, which 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. They were honored for the paper “An Evaluation of Two Reading Interventions Derived from Diverse Models,” which was published in Reading Research Quarterly.

TIMES was founded in 2001 by Francis and colleagues 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. Fletcher, who was on the faculty at UH in the late 80’s, was recruited back to the university last year. He and Francis have collaborated on research on early reading and developmental disabilities for over 20 years. For more details on TIMES, visit http://www.tlc2.uh.edu/times.

NICHD is part of the National Institutes of Health. Its mission is promoting family health and to ensuring the health, productivity, independence, and well-being of all people through optimal rehabilitation. For more information on NICHD, visit http://www.nichd.nih.gov/.

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.

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