The Institutes on Beginning Reading (IBR) began in 1999. To date, IBR's have been conducted in Oregon, Alabama, Hawaii, and California.

The first Institute on Beginning Reading was held in June, 1999 by the Oregon Department of Education and the Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement. Eighteen school teams from around Oregon took part, for a total of 103 participants.

Each participating school supplies a school team that generally consists of the principal, a kindergarten teacher, a first grade teacher, a second grade teacher, a Title I teacher, and a special education teacher.

The following topics are covered:

• What skills should students be able to demonstrate at specific grade levels?
• How do I know what students know and whether they are learning enough?
• How do I teach?
• How should skills be sequenced?
• What should I look for in materials and programs?
• What effective, research-based programs can I use?

Team participants learn about the components of early reading intervention--Curriculum Design Principles, Instruction, and Assessment--and how to apply them in the classroom. Dr. Deborah Simmons and Dr. Edward Kame'enui of the University of Oregon direct the institute and focus on the "Big Ideas in Beginning Reading": Phonemic Awareness, Alphabetic Principle, and Automaticity with the Code.

The institutes are based on the findings of the 1998 National Research Council's synthesis of reading research, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children.

Many of the ideas and concepts presented at the IBR's can be found at IDEA's reading website.