Michael Pressley's Educational Legacy and Directions He Identified for Future Research in Reading Instruction

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to document the legacy and continuing influence of Michael Pressley's work in the field of reading research and instruction. Descriptions are provided to demonstrate how he translated his data from the cognitive sciences into highly effective pedagogy. A second component of this article discusses how Michael Pressley, throughout his career, continuously collected converging evidence through multiple research methodologies to examine single, complex educational issues. The article concludes by presenting research agendas that Mike was pursuing near the end of his career and how these initiatives provide new directions for reading research, policy, and classroom practices today. His contemporary research focused on how to improve multiple comprehension strategy instruction so it could become an even greater, central component in K-12 curricula; how to expand the application of basic research in cognitive strategy instruction to classroom practices; and, how to assess reading comprehension more effectively.