[Reading-hall-of-fame] Making Connections: From the CSR to the CSAL

[tsticht at znet.com]

5/12/2015

Making Connections: The Center for the Study of Reading (CSR) and the Center
for the Study of Adult Literacy (CSAL)

Tom Sticht, International Consultant in Adult Education

In 1976, the National Institute of Education (NIE) funded the creation of a
Center for the Study of Reading (CSR) at the University of
Illinois/Champaign. A major reason for the funding of the CSR was the
theoretical framework that the research proposal presented for the study of
reading comprehension. This framework, generally referred to as “schema”
theory, considered the role of the reader’s prior knowledge in determining
how well he or she could comprehend texts. With a well-developed
theoretical framework it was possible for CSR researchers to conduct
research programs to empirically evaluate the validity of various
hypotheses derived from the schema theory.

One of the CSR’s major contributions occurred when Dr. Richard C. Anderson,
Principal Investigator for the CSR, chaired a National Academy of Education
Commission on Reading, supported in part by the NIE. This Commission
produced an influential report entitled “Becoming a Nation of Readers”
(Anderson, et al., 1985). Not surprisingly, given the focus on reading
comprehension at the CSR, the Nation of Readers report also recommended
that educators should focus more attention on fostering reading
comprehension over workbooks focused on skills.

Further, in a chapter on emerging literacy, the Nation of Readers authors
recognized that the knowledge which children bring with them to the K-12
system provides the basis for reading comprehension following the
acquisition of decoding ability. They pointed to the role that parents play
in developing children’s prior knowledge needed to become good readers when
they start school and they stated that parents have an obligation to
support their children’s continued growth as readers. The CSR went on to
distribute over 435,000 copies of a pamphlet called Ten Ways to Help Your
Children Become Better Readers.

Emergence of the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy

Unfortunately, since the funding of the CSR in 1976, America’s school system
has not been entirely successful in educating all children to become adults
literate enough to meet their obligations that the Commission called for
them to meet. This is indicated by the fact that in September of 2012 the
federal government funded a new Center for the Study of Adult literacy
(CSAL) at Georgia State University, with Dr. Daphne Greenberg as principal
investigator. The CSAL has a central research objective focused on reading
comprehension similar to that of the CSR established some forty years ago.
The web site for the CSAL states:

Quote “Reading comprehension as the goal of reading is the ultimate focus of
this Center grant. To comprehend a text successfully, a reader
simultaneously uses many skills and strategies.” End quote

The funding of the CSAL follows the federal funding of two national centers
for studying adult literacy education over the period from 1990 through
2007; a multi-year  project to develop and disseminate evidence-based
principles for adult basic education reading instruction, and a 5-year,
multi-agency federal project for research on adult reading processes and
instruction. The ongoing work of the CSAL will:

Quote “(1) explore individual differences in reading-related abilities and
motivations for learning so that we can better tailor instruction to adult
learners, (2) design a reading program and an interactive online reading
tutor that can more effectively meet adult learners’ needs, and (3) conduct
pilot studies to assess the potential of our instructional programs in
helping adults improve their literacy skills.” End quote

The CSAL web site states: Quote “Each year, nearly 3 million Americans
enroll in adult literacy programs to improve their basic skills, and some
estimates suggest the need is even greater. Adults in these programs want
to increase their literacy skills to improve aspects of their work, family,
social, and civic lives. However, we do not completely understand their
underlying reading-related strengths and weaknesses, nor do we know the
best curricula and teaching approaches to help them reach their reading
goals.” End quote

Writing about “completely understanding” reading over a century ago, in
1908, E. B. Huey said, Quote “And so to completely analyze what we do when
we read would almost be the acme of a psychologist’s achievements, for it
would be to describe very many of the most intricate workings of the human
mind, as well as to unravel the tangled story of the most remarkable
specific performance that civilization has learned in all its history.” End
quote (Huey, 1908/1968, p. 6)

Hopefully,  by “unraveling the tangled story” of adult reading the CSAL will
be able to develop programs that will help adults improve their reading
skills and fulfill their parenting obligations in helping their children
learn to read- the obligation which the CSR Nation of Readers report posed
for parents thirty years ago.

Perhaps, by investing in improving the reading skills of adults, we may
improve the reading ability of their children.

References (See Addendum following the references)

Anderson, R., Hiebert, E., Scott, J., & Wilkinson, I. (1985). Becoming a
nation of readers: The report of the Commission on Reading. Washington, DC:
National Institute of Education. (available online)

Huey, E. B. (1908/1968). The psychology and pedagogy of reading. Cambridge,
Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Kruidenier, J. (2002). Research-based principles for adult basic education
reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
(available online)

Addendum: Making Connections are brief notes on relationships among my work
and the work of others in the field of adult basic skills education. In
1974, I participated in a National Institute of Education  (NIE) Conference
on Studies in Reading  which recommended that the NIE focus research on
“reading comprehension” as contrasted to early learning of alphabetics. In
the summer of 1976 I reviewed grant proposals for the NIE to fund a Center
for the Study of Reading and in August of 1976 as Associate Director of the
NIE in charge of basic skills I signed the documents forming the Center for
the Study of Reading (CSR) at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. In 2000, I participated in a federal government Adult
Literacy Research Working Group to provide the adult literacy field with
re¬search-based principles and practices for teaching reading (Kruidenier,
2002). This became the basis for the ongoing Student Achievement in Reading
(STAR) project from the U.S. Department of Education, Division of Adult
Education and Literacy. It also recommended that more research be conducted
to better understand the reading processes and program needs of adults, much
as is now underway at the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy at the
Georgia State University.


tsticht at aznet.net