ABSTRACT
The assessment of reading comprehension is a critical component of any national research effort aimed at improving our understandings about what is reading comprehension and how it can best be taught. The core of this chapter, excerpted from Reading for Understanding: Toward an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension (2002), was written by the RAND Reading Study Groups for the Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) and designed to inform the development of a research agenda for reading. In 1999, Kent McGuire, then assistant secretary for OERI, launched an agendasetting effort for federal education research, focused on mathematics and reading education and managed by the RAND Corporation. Two study groups were formed, each charged with identifying the most pressing needs in its particular area.
