About the Center
Who We Are
The Texas Center for Learning Disabilities (TCLD) is a multidisciplinary research center that addresses:
- Learning disability (LD) definition and measurement issues
- Preventative (younger students) and remedial (older students) interventions for students with reading difficulties; and
- The neurobiological correlates of LD
This center supports research that leads to a more comprehensive classification of LD, a more integrated understanding of intervention at different levels and intensities for children with reading problems, and important cross-discipline insights into the nature of LD. Currently, this research takes the form of four projects to be conducted over the next five years.
Location
The research sites are the University of Houston, The University of Texas at Austin, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Project I is led by David Francis and Jack Fletcher of the University of Houston. Project II is led by Fletcher and Carolyn Denton of the Children’s Learning Institute at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The University of Texas at Austin implements aspects of Projects II and III, led by Sharon Vaughn. Project IV is housed at the Center for Clinical Neurosciences (a part of the Children’s Learning Institute at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston) and is led by Andrew Papanicolaou.
Overall Project Principal Investigator
Dr Jack M. Fletcher, University of Houston
Structure
To support the research activities of TCLD, three essential cores were developed: the Administrative Services Core (A), the Data Management and Statistical Core (B), and the Dissemination Core (C).
- Core A provides administrative oversight of TCLD, including fiscal management and communication among investigators and across sites. This core is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and is led by Jack Fletcher of the University of Houston.
- Core B, led by David Francis of the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics at the University of Houston, contributes to the overall connectedness of TCLD by providing a common database to which all investigators have access. In addition, Core B also provides data checking and statistical analysis for each project as well as project-specific databases and cross-project analyses. This core is also funded by NICHD.
- Core C, funded by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), develops and maintains the TCLD Web site and implements procedures used to evaluate and disseminate research-based information on response to intervention (RTI) models for the identification and instruction of children at risk for or identified with learning disabilities (LD). This core is led by Greg Roberts at the The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at The University of Texas at Austin.
Organizational Chart
