§6661a. Definitions

For purposes of this part:

(1) Eligible professional development provider

The term "eligible professional development provider" means a provider of professional development in reading instruction to teachers that is based on scientifically based reading research.

(2) Instructional staff

The term "instructional staff"-

(A) means individuals who have responsibility for teaching children to read; and

(B) includes principals, teachers, supervisors of instruction, librarians, library school media specialists, teachers of academic subjects other than reading, and other individuals who have responsibility for assisting children to learn to read.

(3) Reading

The term "reading" means a complex system of deriving meaning from print that requires all of the following:

(A) The skills and knowledge to understand how phonemes, or speech sounds, are connected to print.

(B) The ability to decode unfamiliar words.

(C) The ability to read fluently.

(D) Sufficient background information and vocabulary to foster reading comprehension.

(E) The development of appropriate active strategies to construct meaning from print.

(F) The development and maintenance of a motivation to read.

(4) Scientifically based reading research

The term "scientifically based reading research"-

(A) means the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge relevant to reading development, reading instruction, and reading difficulties; and

(B) shall include research that-

(i) employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment;

(ii) involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn;

(iii) relies on measurements or observational methods that provide valid data across evaluators and observers and across multiple measurements and observations; and

(iv) has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review.

(Pub. L. 89–10, title II, §2252, as added Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, §101(f) [title VIII, §101(a)(2)], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–337 , 2681-392; amended Pub. L. 106–554, §1(a)(4) [div. B, title XVI, §1606(b)(2)(A)], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763 , 2763A-335.)

Amendments

2000-Pars. (2) to (5). Pub. L. 106–554 redesignated pars. (3) to (5) as (2) to (4), respectively, and struck out former par. (2), which defined the term "family literacy services".

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 6361, 6362, 6365, 6369b of this title.