Policy-Oriented Research on Literacy Standards and Assessment.

Mandates about the kind and amount of literacy instruction in classrooms and levels of reading required for successful promotion from grade to grade are currently dominating state and federal legislation. This paper gathers scholarship from three disparate sources to produce the first integrated review of policy-related research on literacy education: (1) policy analyses that examine policies about literacy in the framework of systemic reform; (2) measurement and evaluation studies, conducted by psychometricians, that examine the assessments mandated by policies; and (3) studies by literacy researchers that attend to policies and literacy-specific content. Each of these literatures has a unique set of questions, frameworks, methodologies, and audiences. Together, they provide a comprehensive perspective on policies and literacy education. The paper concludes that the best way to influence policy, instruction, and children's learning is for policy, measurement, and literacy researchers to collaborate in conducting and reporting research. Each group needs to learn more about the others' work in order to affect real change in literacy practice. Contains 121 references. (RS)