Hi Sharon,
You bring-up some good points.

Concerning early reading instruction on student's eventual ability to 
learn to read, there are several variable to consider.  The main two are 
how early (what age child) and of what does the reading instruction 
consist.  The question you ask is exactly what we are trying to find out 
in this research project.  We don't know how early or exactly what kind 
of instruction is needed.  The study at FSU, considers preschool age 
children and focuses on pre-literacy skills such as phonological 
skills.  This is the second year of this five year project, so the data 
is still being collected.  I think it is safe to say that there will be 
some positive impact but how much and from what type of instruction 
remains to be seen.

Your comments about teacher training are very insightful.  The Florida 
Center for Reading Research (www.fcrr.org) is working to provide 
teachers in Florida with research based teacher training.  However, the 
gap between what researchers and teachers/practitioners know/are doing 
is still quite large.  More projects do need to address this need.
Best,
Megan

Sharon Hillestad wrote:

>

>

> --- On *Mon, 9/22/08, Megan Bakan /<bakan at psy.fsu.edu>/* wrote:

>

>     From: Megan Bakan <bakan at psy.fsu.edu>

>     Subject: [LearningDisabilities 2320] Dyslexia Research Registry

>     To: "The Learning Disabilities Discussion List"

>     <learningdisabilities at nifl.gov>

>     Date: Monday, September 22, 2008, 11:30 AM

>

>     The Dyslexia Research Registry in funded through the National Institute 

>     of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD).  The NICHHD has funded 4 

>     Learning Disability Centers.

>

>     Colorado LD Center at the University of Colorado

>

>     Florida LD Center at Florida State University

>

>     Northeast LD Center at the Kennedy Krieger Institute

>

>     Texas LD Center at the University of Houston

>

>      

>

>     Each conducts its own independent research projects. 

>

>      

>

>     There are five current research projects at the Florida LD Center. 

>

>      

>

>     Project 1 addresses alternative approaches to classification and 

>     prevention that include new measures of emergent literacy and response 

>     to instruction in a large scale study of 1,500 preschool age children.

>

>      

>

>     Project 2 addresses alternative approaches to classification, the role 

>     of effective instruction in preventing or minimizing the expression of 

>     learning disabilities, and a fundamental assumption of response to 

>     instruction models in two large scale studies of elementary school-age 

>     children.

>

>      

>

>     Project 3 addresses etiology, identification, and classification of 

>     individuals with dyslexia in a state-wide sample of over 100,000 

>     children in Reading First schools, and in a large-scale, twin-based 

>     quantitative genetic study of 9,000 pairs of twins.

>

>      

>

>     Project 4 addresses the molecular genetics and behavioral 

>     characteristics of profound reading impairment in a family genetics 

>     study.  This project will also establish a national registry of families 

>     with one or more family members who are profoundly impaired readers. 

>     Families in the Dyslexia Research Registry will be contacted to be given 

>     an opportunity to participate in studies of reading.

>

>     Project 5 addresses underlying dimensions of performance in vocabulary 

>     and fluency, and tests alternative models of the development of reading 

>     and writing in a four-year longitudinal study of 300 children in first 

>     through fourth grades.

>

>      

>

>     What areas do you see as the most critical to research?

>     HOW DOES EARLY READING INSTRUCTION IMPACT THE STUDENTS ABILITY

>     EVENTUALLY LEARN TO READ. 

>

>     Where do you see the gaps in research today? TEACHER TRAINING

>

>     I received my teacher’s degree from River Falls Wisconsin State

>     University in 1966.

>

>     I then began teaching third grade. It wasn’t long before I noticed

>     that the reading ability

>

>     of my students depended upon who had been their teachers in first

>     and second grade.

>

>     The teachers who were older and more experienced produced better

>     readers.

>

>     The other teachers who, like me, had little classroom experience

>     produced students

>

>     who did not read well. I realized that I couldn’t teach students

>     to read well either in spite

>

>     of more than four years of education courses in three colleges.

>     Next Post: The Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing

>     ---------------------------------------------------- National

>     Institute for Literacy Learning Disabilities mailing list

>     LearningDisabilities at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your

>     subscription settings, please go to

>     http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/learningdisabilities Email

>     delivered to sharonhillestad at yahoo.com

>

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

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> Email delivered to bakan at psy.fsu.edu


-- 
Megan M. Bakan Ph.D.
Florida State University
Department of Psychology
Room 418B
1107 W. Call Street
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4301
FSU Office (850)644-4563
Toll Free: 1-866-290-2456
Home Office (850)216-0510

The Dyslexia Research Registry
Improving Reading, Improving Learning, Improving Lives
www.fsuld.org