ABSTRACT
This is the first edition of the Handbook of Reading Research to include policy chapters. During the 1980s and 1990s, instruments of policy reached into every facet of our educationallives. The "tools" of policy include everything from new content standards or instructional frameworks to teacher certification requirements, systems of assessment, Title I allocations and requirements, and textbook adoption guidelines. This chapter is focused on a discussion of policy-oriented research on literacy standards and assessment, as other literacy policy matters are addressed elsewhere in this Handbook. How policy instruments such as standards and assessments have risen to such high levels of prominence in subject matter learning is part of the story we must tell in this chapter.
