English Language Arts Standards Briefs: Literacy Research Summaries

REL Northwest developed a series of five briefs to summarize information from practice guides, meta-analyses, and other federally funded research reviews. The briefs aim to increase knowledge about evidence-based approaches to reading, writing, and literacy instruction. The briefs respond to the following questions:

1. What instructional practices and models contribute to reading instruction at different grade levels?
2. What is the relationship between reading and writing across grade levels?
3. What are the stages of emergent literacy and language skill development?
4. What are the critical components for adolescent literacy development?
5. What processes and procedures for disciplinary literacy support building background knowledge, comprehension, and critical thinking skills?

REL Northwest developed these briefs in response to the Montana Office of Public Instruction's (OPI's) request for relevant literacy research to inform the revision of the state's K–12 ELA standards. By increasing the capacity of the OPI ELA standards development team to use research as it revises the standards, OPI aims to generate actionable, evidence-based state standards that will form the foundation for literacy instruction.