A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement

ED Program Office: OERI/Student Achievement Institute
ED Agency Contact: Anne P. Sweet

Start Date: 10/01/97
End Date: 9/30/02

Expected Total Award: $12,708,161.00

Principal Investigators:

Karen Wixson, Director, UM
Joanne Carlisle, Co-Director, UM
Steven Stahl, Co-Director, UG

Institution:

University of Michigan
610 East University, Rm. 4003 SEB
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259
(313) 647-6940

Affiliated Organizations:

• Michigan State University
• University of Georgia
• University of Minnesota
• University of Southern California
• University of Pennsylvania

Abstract:

The mission of the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) is to improve the reading achievement of America's children by generating and disseminating theoretical, empirical, and practical solutions to persistent problems in the learning and teaching of beginning reading. To this end, CIERA is conducting rigorous research and analyses of the best practices among teachers, and utilizing multiple routes of dissemination to the public.

The Center's research studies include basic research on fundamental processes of reading because they have a central focus on readers interacting with text and the need to understand the dynamics of developing skills and knowledge that allow children to break the code and understand messages in print. CIERA is especially concerned with helping children who come to school with characteristics that often indicate risk for school failure, problems such as poverty, motivation, language differences, and lack of literacy support at home, and studying how resilient children overcome these circumstances. Their view of reading is not limited to the individual, however, and they are examining the surrounding contexts that influence children's early reading. Specifically, they are studying successful reading practices that link homes and schools, provide community resources for family reading, and establish solid foundations with effective preschool activities. CIERA is following examples of best practices of their teacher partners throughout the nation as they examine effective teaching of reading in early primary grades and disseminate the results to educators.

In even larger surrounding contexts, the University of Michigan collaboration is studying programs of teacher education to understand how to prepare new teachers to teach reading effectively and how staff development programs can be enhanced. Finally, they are examining the influences of policies, standards, assessments, and interventions established by state and federal agencies to understand how these imposed expectations and programs affect how teachers provide reading instruction and how children respond to them. Their proposed studies analyze the impact on all levels of stakeholders so as to understand the myriad of contextual influences on children who are beginning to read.

To accomplish its mission, CIERA has organized its programs of work into three areas of Inquiry:

Inquiry 1: Readers and Texts
Inquiry 2: Home and School
Inquiry 3: Policy and Profession

For information on current Center activities and publications, please visit the CIERA Web site.

R&D Centers

Last modified October 22, 2001 (tca)