Reading First

The teaching of reading in the United States was given renewed focus in 2001 in response to the No Child Left Behind Act. Title I (Part B, subpart 1) of the Act establishes the $1 billion-a-year federally funded Reading First program. The Reading First legislation was signed into law on January 8, 2002, and developed in response to the April 2000 National Reading Report, which identified deficiencies in current reading practices. The program is defined by its goal of providing funding to schools in correlation with teachers using proven methods of reading instruction and assessment in their classrooms. The program is intended to give the highest amount of funding to schools that demonstrate the most need. Reading First is designed to close the achievement gap for disadvantaged and minority students.

The Reading First program is markedly different from preexisting programs. In the past, remediation programs focused on helping older, struggling students after they displayed reading deficiencies. Reading First is characterized by its emphasis on early intervention (kindergarten through third grade) to help young readers before they can fall behind. Reading First is unique and controversial because it is prescriptive. To receive funding, schools and districts are required to develop a rationale for how instruction will be implemented and guided by research. Reading First provides formula grants to schools; to qualify for funding, states are required to submit applications, detailing the implementation of grant programs within their districts with the impetus of increasing reading proficiency in kindergarten through third grade in schools with low-performing, disadvantaged, and minority students. Reading First is supported by three technical assistance centers housed at universities. These technical assistance centers provide supervision of the implementation of the Reading First program. One million dollars a year is budgeted to monitor schools' implementation of Reading First and intervene when necessary.

With the establishment of Reading First came the expectation that all students, regardless of diverse demographics, will be able to read by third grade. Schools become eligible to receive funding in the program by incorporating essential components of reading instruction and using research-based reading strategies and programs. Essential reading components are defined as (a) reading comprehension strategies; (b) phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear and reproduce or manipulate phonemes; (c) phonics; (d) vocabulary development; and (e) reading fluency, the ability to read text smoothly and correctly. Within the Reading First legislation, federal funds also support professional development for teachers to ensure that teachers are equipped with the skills necessary to effectively teach reading. Funds are also available for student screening to diagnose and prevent early reading difficulties.

More than 6 years following the implementation of Reading First and after the federally mandated evaluation of the program's effectiveness, widespread disagreement and controversy exists about the success of the program. The federally mandated evaluation examined first and second graders in 13 different states, totaling 248 schools and thousands of students. The findings of the evaluation have done little to resolve the debate surrounding the effectiveness of Reading First.

The Reading First Impact Study: Interim Report provided credibility to critics of the reading program. The report indicates that no statistical difference exists between the estimated reading [Page 757]comprehension gains experienced by students participating in the program compared to students in non-Reading First schools. Critics also point out that Reading First takes away key instructional time from other subjects with little or no validated results in reading. Although significantly more minutes a day are spent on reading instruction in Reading First schools than in non-Reading First schools, there is no difference in the level of achievement recorded on reading comprehension exams. Experts in the field of education report an increased amount of time spent on decoding skills and suggest enough time is not designated for reading comprehension. The report also found that the experience of schools with the Reading First program did not impact reading comprehension or classroom instruction. Critics refer to decreased federal appropriations as proof that Reading First is a failure. From 2003 to 2006 Reading First received an overwhelming $1 billion in funding. In 2008 funding was cut to $393 million.

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