about the project

The Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) at WestEd is a significant partner in the Institute of Education Sciences' READi (Reading, Evidence, and Argumentation in Disciplinary Instruction) research initiative. This five-year initiative is developing instructional strategies, technology, curricula, teacher professional development, and assessment to increase the reading comprehension of students in grades 6-12.

SLI is collaborating with researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and elsewhere, first to understand the cognitive processes students need to draw on to develop evidence-based arguments, and then to design instructional interventions that will support students. Finally, researchers are designing research studies to measure the efficacy of the project interventions.

Cynthia Greenleaf, SLI Co-Director, is co-Principal Investigator, co-leads the project's Intervention Development Studies, and is a member of the Core Research group. Thomas Hanson, Senior Research Associate at WestEd, will lead the efficacy studies in the final years of the grant.

Read the research study description.