This paper considers reading research carried out by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The paper presents a synthesis of this research on reading. It begins with a note about the NICHD research program and a discussion of how the program is different from other studies of reading. It then discusses a new understanding of reading based on identifying the nature of reading difficulties and their causes. The next section discusses research on treatment for reading difficulties, arguing for early identification and treatment; explicit, systematic instruction in sound-spelling correspondences; and that prediction from context is not a useful strategy for word recognition. The next section presents seven key research-based principles of effective reading instruction: (1) begin teaching phonemic awareness directly at an early age; (2) teach each sound-spelling correspondence explicitly; (3) teach frequent, highly regular sound-spelling relationships systematically; (4) show children exactly how to sound out words; (5) use connected, decodable text for children to practice the sound-spelling relationships they learn; (6) use interesting stories to develop language comprehension; and (7) balance use of interesting stories with decoding instruction, but do not mix comprehension instruction and decoding instruction. The paper concludes with a brief description of other important research questions and findings, as well as future directions of NICHD research. Contains 49 references, one figure, and two tables of data. (RS)