In 1999, the United States Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) asked RAND to examine how OERI might improve the quality and relevance of the education research it funds. The RAND Reading Study Group (RRSG) was charged with developing a research framework to address the most pressing issues in literacy. The RRSG focused on the highest priorities for research in reading comprehension, particularly how to best promote the development of proficient reading and prevent reading comprehension difficulties. Other questions addressed were: How can teachers be prepared to deliver effective comprehension instruction? and How can an assessment system for reading comprehension be developed that includes the design of valid and reliable measures of self-regulated, strategic reading that are sensitive to instructional interventions? This book sets out the RRSG's framework and presents the group's conclusions about improving the research infrastructure for teaching reading comprehension. The book proposes a reading research agenda and addresses issues that the community of reading researchers urgently needs to address over the next 10 to 15 years. Appendixes contain an expanded review of the research on variability in reading comprehension, and an outline of a sample request for application. (Contains approximately 345 references.) (NKA)