House Appropriations Subcommittee Holds Hearing on the Science of Reading
House Appropriations Subcommittee Holds Hearing on the Science of Reading
 
Print

February 2026

On February 10, the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing to examine the implementation of science of reading policies at the state level in K–12 schools. The hearing featured testimony from Holly Lane, director and professor at the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI); Bonnie Short, director of the Alabama Reading Initiative; and Larry Saulsberry, director for teaching and learning for literacy at Huntsville City Schools.

In his opening remarks, LHHS Subcommittee Chair Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) highlighted gains in fourth-grade reading achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, pointing to the implementation of evidence-based ready instruction practices.

LHHS Subcommittee Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) emphasized the role of federal investment in advancing science of reading, including support for the National Reading Panel at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the broad investment in literacy research by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). DeLauro also called on the subcommittee to re-establish the National Reading Panel.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) similarly underscored the contributions of IES, NIH, and the National Science Foundation in producing research that has informed evidence-based approaches to reading instruction.

In her testimony, Lane described how the federal investment in education research, including through IES, contributed to development of UFLI Foundations, a reading intervention used in more than 700,000 classrooms nationwide. She stressed the importance of continued federal support for education research, including investments in implementation science and in translating research intro practice through IES’s What Works Clearinghouse.

Lane, Scott, and Saulsberry each highlighted the importance of sustained coaching and long-term professional development to support effective implementing of science of reading principles, as well as the need to continually assess what works and what does not in practice.