[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5417]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  ANSWERS FROM NATIONAL READING PANEL ON AMERICAN CHILDREN'S READING 
                                 LEVELS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Kentucky (Ms. Northup) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. NORTHUP. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is an important day for all of our 
schoolchildren and all of our children across this country.
  When I came to Congress 3\1/2\ years ago, the rate of children that 
could not even read at basic level in our schools across this country 
was 40 percent. Forty percent of all schoolchildren in the fourth grade 
could not even read at basic levels.
  Clearly, as we have poured resources, we have poured time and 
attention and research into making sure our children all learn to read, 
we were missing the mark with some our children.
  I am sure all of us do not need to be reminded how important it is 
that children learn to read. They learn to read first in kindergarten 
and first grade so that they can go on about in fourth grade to other 
things: science, health, geography, social studies, all other subjects 
that require good reading skills.
  We also know from research that if a child does not learn to read by 
the beginning of fourth grade, there is a very strong probability that 
that child will never learn to read at their capacity. Because, in 
those early years, children are at the stage of brain development where 
they can learn to read, learn to read quickly, and accurately, learn 
fluency, and learn to put what they see on the written page into 
understanding ideas and convert it and learn that information.
  That is a time in their lives where they are particularly adept at 
that; and if they miss that opportunity, they are going to find it very 
difficult at any age and with any amount of work to learn to read at 
their capacity.
  So it is a serious problem in this country that we confront today as 
so many of our children miss this time in their lives when they learn 
to read.
  We know that everybody means for children to read, and we believe 
that all children can learn at a high level. And so, it was important 
that we ask the question, what are we doing that is not right? What are 
we missing? The questions that need to be answered are, how do children 
learn to read? At what age do children go through the stages of 
learning to read? We need to know at what time we need to intervene 
when children are not going through those stages and are not learning 
to read as we hope they will. And what kind of intervention works best?
  Three years ago, Congress put into the appropriations bill for the 
education appropriation and health education a research requirement 
that the Department of Education and the National Institute of Child 
Health and Development together look at all research that has been done 
on how children learn to read to give us a better road map, answer the 
questions that have so confounded us for so many of our children.
  Today, I am thrilled to know that tomorrow the National Reading Panel 
is going to give us their answers. They are going to tell us what all 
the research together tells us about how children learn to read. They 
are going to answer many of the questions that we have, many of the 
questions that our teachers around this country want so that they can 
have a better road map as they approach reading in ways that are the 
most effective.
  I am here today to share with the American people and with the 
Congress the importance that, number one, we have this information; 
number two, that we make sure that our teachers in our schools around 
the country get this information and that it is incorporated into our 
lessons as we go forward in our efforts to make sure that every child 
learn and learn at a high level; number 3, that we make sure that all 
future research is done according to standards that will give us the 
feedback we need to answer additional questions that we have.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that our children are waiting for us to have 
this answer. They only get to be 6 years old once in their life. They 
only get to be in that time of their life once where they can learn to 
read and they can learn to read well. After that, it is a struggle.
  And so, for every child that today is in the first grade, for every 
child that tomorrow and next year will be in the first grade, let us 
make sure that we listen to what the scientists can tell us. They can 
give us a good road map on what we are doing right and what we are 
doing wrong. And may we please not be so closed minded or set in our 
ways that we cannot change and adjust and incorporate in our schools 
and in our children's lives this information that we have waited so 
long for.

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