As reading scores decline, a study primed to help grinds to a halt

Children who struggle with reading often also have difficulty focusing, according to experts. Yet these students frequently receive ineffective support, with reading and attention difficulties addressed separately.

Intrigued by the possibility of helping students with reading and behavioral attention struggles, Harvard expert Phil Capin and his colleague Garrett Roberts from University of Denver designed a study to investigate the benefits of an integrated approach to intervention. The research project aimed to test the effects of a single, unified intervention called Supporting Attention and Reading for Kids (SPARK) on students in grades 3-5. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Capin’s $3.2 million research grant started in July of last year.

The school-based research part of the project was set to begin in the fall — with the participation of about 400 students from six schools in Texas — in partnership with experts at the University of Denver and the University of Texas. Researchers were to track students for four years to determine if the intervention helped them improve in word reading, vocabulary, and reading fluency and comprehension.

But everything came to a stop when Capin’s project was terminated in May as part of the Trump administration’s decision to freeze more than $2.2 billion in federal research funding in its ongoing dispute against Harvard.

“The grants that were funded and then consequently terminated went through a really meticulous process. … Both projects had the potential to improve the lives of students.”

It is a blow to an important research agenda, said Capin, an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. But the biggest loss is for students who may have been helped with new research-informed practices, he added. Estimates suggest that 25 to 40 percent of students with reading difficulties experience elevated levels of inattention, according to different studies. In 1998 testimony before the Senate, leadership at NIH concluded that literacy difficulties in the U.S. amounted to a major public health problem.

“The need to improve reading instruction for students who are vulnerable for reading difficulties is not going away,” said Capin. “We’re committed to finding ways to continue the work, but how that occurs is unclear.”

Capin hopes that the research continues with the University’s support, or other funding agencies and private foundations. He remains optimistic.

“It’s unlikely that we will procure the amount of funds that were needed to conduct the research that we had designed, which was evaluated by our peers through a review process and determined to be innovative and significant,” Capin said. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to do the exact study that we had proposed, but we’re committed to finding solutions to advance this work so that we can improve outcomes for those we’re committed to help.”

Second project dealt setback

For Capin, the week of May 12 was a tough one. The same week he learned his SPARK project was terminated, another research grant of his was stopped before it began its second year. Called STORIES, the four-year project was to develop and evaluate a novel intervention to support multilingual students in grades 2-4 to better understand narrative texts.

The $2 million project was funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the Department of Education. The research was to be conducted in partnership with experts in speech and pathology at Utah State University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Revere Public Schools in Massachusetts, which serves a large population of English learners.

“Many students who are multilingual are developing their proficiency in English,” said Capin. “Research suggests many of these students would benefit from additional supports to develop their academic language in English.”

Reading scores among U.S. students have been declining. According to the latest Nation’s Report Card, reading scores among fourth graders in 2024 were lower than in 2022 and even lower than in 2019. This project’s termination prevents students and teachers from working together to improve outcomes, Capin said.

“These decisions impact all the students who would have been served by these practices through the research, and also the countless teachers and students who could have potentially gained knowledge about new evidence-based practices,” he said.

Like other research grants that were frozen by the administration, Capin’s two research projects were funded based on careful peer reviews and a rigorous process. Capin said that the abrupt termination of these grants puts at risk the nation’s research enterprise, which should be kept independent from political pressure.

“Decisions about funding — whether to fund scientific research or whether to terminate scientific research — should be based on careful review, and on the merits of whether the research can improve the lives of individuals,” Capin said. “The grants that were funded and then consequently terminated went through a really meticulous process to determine whether the ideas were innovative and the methods were appropriate. Both projects had the potential to improve the lives of students. Even with these changes, our commitment to advance literacy outcomes for children remains strong.”