Reflecting on the field of
adolescent literacy: Perspectives
from NICHD
Brett Miller, PhD
Program Director
Reading, Writing, & Related LD Program
NICHD
Literacy Activities at NICHD
• Why NICHD is interested in literacy
• Brief intro to why NICHD has literacy
investments across the lifespan
• Reflecting on our current investments in
adolescent literacy
• Next steps
How does literacy fit into the mission of the National Institutes
of Health?
Mission of NICHD:
Where does literacy fit in?
• Ensure that every person is born healthy and wanted
• Women suffer no harmful effects from reproductive processes
• All children have the chance to achieve their full
potential for healthy and productive lives, free from
disease or disability
• Ensure the health, productivity, independence, and
well-being of all people through optimal rehabilitation.
Why study individuals with and without
learning disabilities?
• Foundational research on human learning and learning
disabilities is an integral part of child development and health.
• Readers who do not struggle help us understand how literacy
usually develops
▫ This is critical context for understanding research results when
working with struggling readers or those with a disability
• Insufficient to study only one group. We need to understand the
needs of all readers/writers regardless of disability or
age.
Basic Questions of Interest
• How do individuals learn to read &
write?
• What goes wrong when they don’t?
• What can we do about it? (Prevention
and remediation)
Current Directions in Adol. Literacy
• Adolescent Literacy Consortium
▫ Interagency effort with OVAE (ED) and OSERS
▫ Funded 5 research projects focused on various
aspects of adolescent literacy
 Range of methodological techniques (behavior and
neurobiology)
 Includes work on interventions, motivation and
engagement, and foundational research on reading
comprehension
 Interdisciplinary teams
Learning Disabilities Research Centers
• 3 of 4 centers involve work with pre-adolescents
and adolescents
• Examination of RTI in secondary settings
▫ Intervention based studies
• Generate estimates of prevalence of different
types of RD for this age group
• Examine reading comprehension in skilled and
struggling readers
Where we envision moving to
• Writing and reading-writing relationship
• Focus on late emerging RD
• Focus on reading comprehension
• Continue emphasis on translation
(interventions)
Writing and Reading-Writing
Connection
• Workshop on Writing Development and
Instruction in May cosponsored by NIFL
• Products will be forthcoming
• Continue to encourage work on writing
development, interventions, and reading-writing
connection
Late emerging RD
• Build our understanding of reading difficulties
and disabilities that emerge later
▫ Eye towards understanding the genesis of these
problems, how to remediate and to identify these
individuals earlier before significant problems
arise
Reading Comprehension and
Interventions
• Reading Comprehension
▫ Foundational work to inform construct refinement
▫ Development of this skill from early readers into
adulthood
• Continued work on interventions!
▫ Both in adolescents and with struggling adults
National Academies Work
• NAS panel activity
▫ “Learning Sciences: Foundations and Applications to
Adolescent and Adult Literacy”
 Sponsored by NIFL
▫ This panel will conduct a “study of the scientific
foundations of adolescent and adult literacy with
implications for policy and practice”
▫ Product expected in early 2011
14
Partnering with others
• IRA-NICHD Partnership
▫ Ongoing partnership moving into 7th year
▫ New effort focused on Measuring Classroom
Instruction project
▫ Revising our normal workshop model to take
advantage of technology
Brett Miller
[email protected]