Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interests¹

The research team for this evaluation consists of a prime contractor, Decision Information Resources (DIR), Inc., and two subcontractors, Mathematica Policy Research (MPR), Inc. and the Center for Improving the Readiness of Children for Learning and Education (CIRCLE) at the University of Texas-Houston Health Sciences Center. DIR and MPR have no interests that could be affected by findings from the evaluation of the Early Reading First (ERF) program.

CIRCLE developed one of the study's classroom observation measures and advised on the selection of the child assessments. CIRCLE also trained DIR staff to collect classroom observation and child assessment data, but CIRCLE staff did not collect any data. They scored the classroom observations and child assessments by entering item-level data into computer programs, but they did not know the treatment or control status of the classrooms for which they entered data. CIRCLE carried out descriptive analyses of the classroom observation data that was incorporated into the report, but had no role in the impact analyses in the report. Under a separate contract with an ERF grantee that was part of the 2003 cohort in the study, CIRCLE provided services to and conducted the grantee's local evaluation as required under its grant. Under another separate contract with an ERF grantee that was part of the 2005 cohort and not in the study, CIRCLE provided technical assistance on the use of its classroom observation measure. In addition, CIRCLE has adopted a public position supporting early childhood classroom activities and instructional materials and seeks funding to provide services that are consistent with the goals of the Early Reading First program.

A consultant to DIR, Professor Christopher Lonigan of Florida State University, provided an assessment that was used in a battery of assessments for the evaluation. Dr. Lonigan's role in the DIR project was to review and provide feedback on the preliminary results of the study and to provide information on the psychometric properties of the assessment he developed. Dr. Lonigan had previously developed the assessment and he had no role in the selection of assessments. The assessment was not commercially available at the time it was selected by DIR and during the data collection phase. A revised version of the assessment became commercially available as the Test of Preschool Early Literacy (TOPEL) in January 2007, after the ERF data collection. Dr. Lonigan has a financial interest in the commercial version. Under a separate contract, Dr. Lonigan was commissioned by the Early Reading First Program Office to provide lectures on components of effective instruction in phonemic awareness at meetings of Early Reading First grantees in April 2006 and April 2007 after the preliminary descriptive findings of the report were shared with the grantees. Dr. Lonigan was also commissioned by the Early Reading First Program Office to provide a lecture on the preliminary findings of the National Early Literacy Panel in October 2004.