NICHD Press Release
March 27,1998

"A new panel unveiled today will study the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching children how to read and to report on the best ways to apply these findings in classrooms and at home.

"The National Reading Panel—requested by Congress and created by the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in consultation with the Secretary of Education (ED)—includes prominent reading researchers, teachers, child development experts, leaders in elementary and higher education, and parents.

"The panel will build on the recently announced findings presented by the National Research Council's Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children."

The release continues: "The panel's inaugural meeting will take place at 9 AM on April 24 in Conference Room 10 of Building 31 on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. In the coming months, the full panel will meet several times in the Washington, DC area.

"'The panel is soliciting written input from all interested parties,' said National Reading Panel Chair, Dr. Donald N. Langanberg, Chancellor of the University System of Maryland.  'In addition, the plans for the panel include convening several regional meetings.  These meetings will afford local administrators, researchers, teachers, parents, and others around the country, the opportunity to attend a subcommittee meeting and to present their own views in person, without having to travel to the Washington area.'"

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