Calendar No. 125
105th Congress, 1st Session
Senate Report 105-58
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill, 1998
July 24, 1997 - Ordered to be printed
Mr. Specter, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following
Report
[To accompany S. 1061]
The Committee on Appropriations reports the bill (S. 1061) making appropriations for Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, and for other purposes, reports favorably thereon and recommends that the bill do pass....
Reading development and disability.
The Committee is impressed with the important accomplishments reported from the NICHD research program on reading development and disability, and is eager to have this information brought to the attention of educators, policymakers, and parents. Noting the fact that the NICHD is already collaborating with the Department of Education, the Committee urges the Director of the NICHD in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to convene a national panel to assess the status of research-based knowledge, including the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching children to read. The Committee recommends that the panel be comprised of 15 individuals, who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government and include leading scientists in reading research, representatives of colleges of education, reading teachers, educational administrators, and parents. Based on its findings, the panel should present a report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Education, and the appropriate congressional committees. The report should present the panel's conclusions, an indication of the readiness for application in the classroom of the results of this research, and, if appropriate, a strategy for rapidly disseminating this information to facilitate effective reading instruction in the schools. If found warranted, the panel should also recommend a plan for additional research regarding early reading development and instruction. The Committee looks forward to discussing the findings of the report during the hearing on the fiscal year 1999 budget.