Spanning the years 1932-1982, this book details the history of the National Conference on Research in English (NCRE) in terms of members' activities, research directions taken, and accomplishments. The first section of the book, "The Founding," reviews the initial efforts to establish the organization; examines its early programs; discusses the role of C. C. Certain in promoting the organization; describes its first publication, "A Handbook of English for Boys and Girls," published in 1939; and traces the evolution of the journal "The Elementary English Review," later "Elementary English." The second section, "The 1940s," continues the history from the death of Certain in 1940, discussing the activities of the organization during the years of World War II, its proposals for its merger with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the publications of its bulletins. The third section, "The 1950s and 1960s," covers the "heyday" of the organization, reviewing its important meetings and large research efforts, The First Grade Reading Studies and The Teacher Effectiveness Study. The fourth section, "The 1970s," describes NCRE's efforts to engage the membership in cooperative research, discusses the Cooperative Research Committee, and examines attempts to expand membership, while the final section "And Now, What Next?" takes a look at the future of NCRE and offers comments from various past and present members of the organization. (FL)