Examining the Effects of Professional Development to Improve Early Reading Instruction: How Strong is the Causal Chain?

More than ever before, researchers and policymakers expect general education classroom to be the first line of defense in efforts to prevent reading difficulties. Preventing reading difficulties through evidence-based beginning reading instruction research features prominently in the 2002 No Child Left Behind legislation (NCLB; P. L. 107-110) and in the 2004 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). The purpose of this chapter is to describe the experimental and quasi-experimental methodological approaches that have been used to examine the effects of professional development in reading on teachers’ instructional practices and students’ reading outcomes and to evaluate the chain of causal linkage in the more recent studies. The first section of the chapter provides a brief history of relevant research. The second section summarizes findings of the National Reading Panel (NRP, 2000) Report and those of a recent review of the literature (Clancy-Menchetti & Al Otaiba, 2006). The final section synthesizes what we have learned from the research.