FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: 1-800-548-4998
On September 23, the independent Office
of the Inspector General issued a report on Reading
First, a federal program intended to support programs
with strong evidence of effectiveness that has instead
primarily supported traditional textbooks with no research
support. The Inspector General’s report on Reading
First, the first of six reports on the program, corroborates
concerns that we and many others have been expressing
since the earliest days of the program.
The legislation that established
Reading First was clear: Reading First funding was intended
to support programs with strong evidence of effectiveness,
demonstrated in scientific research. Yet in practice,
the U.S. Department of Education allowed a small group
to ignore the intent of Congress and direct funds to
a select set of commercial textbooks, most of which
lack any evidence of effectiveness. Education reformers
who believe in evidence as a basis for policy hope that
the Inspector General’s report will return Reading
First to its noble intentions, and benefit the many
students who need proven, effective reading programs.
The report itself is available at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/aireports/i13f0017.doc.
Articles summarizing the report have appeared in the
Associated
Press, The
New York Times, and the Title
I Monitor.
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