Reading comprehension is critical to success in school, and in the workplace. The National Reading Panel's 2001 Report comments that comprehension is critically important to the development of children’s reading skills and therefore to the ability to obtain an education, making it essential not only to academic learning in all subject areas but to lifelong learning as well.

The Read-Write Cycle was conceptualized during Principal Investigators Calfee and Miller’s prior grant work on reading and writing in the science content area. They found that teachers traditionally view reading comprehension as something done separately from instruction in content area subjects. By creating a cohesive instruction and assessment model that addressed reading comprehension within the content areas, rather than as separate domains, they saw students and teachers take great strides toward deeper reading comprehension and writing ability. The greatest gains were made by students most in need of help, those from low-achieving backgrounds and students for whom English is a second language. The Read-Write Cycle Project extended this earlier work to all the elementary subject areas and with even younger students.

During the first year (2005-2006), the Read-Write Cycle Project trained teachers in proven techniques for delivering reading comprehension instruction in the content areas. Teachers worked collaboratively to develop lessons that they implemented with their classes during the second and third years of the project. During those years, students were observed and evaluated on their progress in multiple areas related to reading comprehension.