Nrrf.org
Title
NRRF - The National Right to Read Foundation - Phonics Products, Phonics Research, Phonics Advocacy
Description
The National Right to Read Foundation (NRRF) was established on January 8, 1993. The mission of NRRF is to return comprehensive, scientifically-based reading instruction and good literature to every elementary school in America. Much progress has been made toward this goal. Exactly nine years from the day NRRF was established, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 that included the Reading First program. This program reflects the findings of decades of reading research, as summarized in the National Reading Panel report released in April 2000. Through Reading First, the Congress provides more than $1 billion each year for needy schools to implement the findings of reading research. A comprehensive approach to teaching students to read, as stated in the Reading First law, includes explicit, systematic instruction in these five areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, fluency, and comprehension. Explicit and systematic instruction in phonics is a non-negotiable component of comprehensive reading instruction.
Much remains to be done. At the state and local levels, NRRF State Directors and Chapter Leaders (see NRRF Contact Information below) promote reading instruction based upon scientific reading research findings. They testify before legislatures, school boards, and parent groups to explain the kind of teaching that will ensure all children learn the skill of reading.
It is our purpose to provide up-to-date information on this site to inform the American public about progress towards the goals of NRRF, to suggest ways that parents can become involved in this essential effort, and to encourage teachers to use reading instructional materials and diagnostic assessments that will enable them to teach most children to read by the end of first grade, and to ensure that all children are proficient readers by the end of third grade at the latest.
