PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

HISTORY

In 1997, the Congress of the United States established the National Reading Panel (NRP). The Panel was charged with the task of investigating scientific research on reading instruction with efforts toward guiding the development of public policy on instructional practice.

Prior to its analysis of the research, the NRP reviewed the findings of the National Research Council Report (Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, 1998), commonly known as the Snow Report. This report identified three areas as central to learning to read: alphabetics, fluency, and comprehension.

As a result of hearings and discussion, the National Reading Panel chose the following focus topics for their investigation: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and comprehension. Vocabulary instruction was to be considered as a subtopic of comprehension. Teacher preparation was also included in the NRP study.

The NRP issued its findings and recommendations in The Report of the National Reading Panel (April 2000). The findings of this report are the foundation of the Reading First legislation within Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The NRP Report and the Reading First legislation give strong direction to states, school districts, and schools as they work to achieve the goal of having every child reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade.

PENNSYLVANIA'S GRANT SELECTION PROCESS

In Pennsylvania, eligible school districts were identified based on several criteria.

Step 1: School districts with the highest percentages of low income families constituted a pool of eligible districts.

Step 2: From districts identified in Step 1, districts having more than 30% of students scoring Below Basic on the Grade 5 PSSA reading assessment were identified.

Step 3: Using school districts identified in Step 1, districts having schools identified as School Improvement through state Empowerment were added to the list.

Eligible schools included 43 school districts and 12 charter schools. Eligible districts/schools were invited to submit applications that met the federal application requirements. Those districts/charters represented approximately 121,911 kindergarten through third-grade students in urban, suburban, and rural settings. The funding was competitively awarded; however, not all the districts/charters chose to participate. Thirty-two districts and three charters are participating in Reading First at the current time.

In order to implement the rigorous scope of activities defined in the Reading First initiative, Pennsylvania based the funding formula on approximately $400 per student. Additionally, to compensate for smaller and rural schools, the amount of $2,000 per classroom teacher in the recipient building was added to the formula.