This report chronicles the record of the Reading First program as a research-based approach to teaching children to read, from early successes as a strict program whose funding would be distributed to states and districts using reading curricula whose effectiveness had been validated by scientific study, to one of eased eligibility that permitted…

Critiques "America Reads," a federal initiative (launched by President Clinton in 1996) to foster universal literacy by sending a million tutors into schools. Argues that the program fails to take into account much of what is known about best practices in literacy instruction, and that inexperienced or poorly trained tutors may present…

Most of the federal government's support of disadvantaged young children has come through Head Start and Chapter 1 programs. Chapter 1 has mainly been used for pull-out remedial reading and mathematics programs in the elementary grades. The National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) is…

The change from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation Act raises issues concerning reading programs covered by the act. The purpose of both laws is to meet the special needs of educationally deprived children. The laws are similar in that they (1) promote teacher and parent involvement; (2) contain…

Through a review of the literature, this paper describes current practices in compensatory reading programs, (particularly Title I and Chapter 1 programs), offers evidence on how such practices evolved, identifies program features that may be questionable, and suggests ways to redesign such programs to enhance their effectiveness. The first…