Reading First is the largest undertaking in the history of the federal government to improve literacy instruction for elementary students. To date, that has meant over $6 billion to states to improve early reading instruction.
The Reading First initiative is part of No Child Left Behind, which has a congressional mandate to fund literacy improvement programs. Its educational focus comes from the findings of the congressionally commissioned National Reading Panel , whose report supports scientifically based reading research (SBRR).
Reading First Ohio
To apply for funding, each state and territory wrote a grant proposal. Ohio structured its proposal to create the Reading First Ohio Center among Cleveland State University (to provide technical assistance and integrate principals and other support personnel), John Carroll University (to create and disseminate professional development and training for Reading First Ohio Literacy Specialists and teachers), and The University of Akron (to create online professional development for all K-3 teachers statewide, including teachers in Reading First schools).
The center at University of Akron (UA) assumed the task of creating professional development that uses SBRR in assessing, planning, and teaching in accordance with Ohio’s English-Language Arts standards.
SBRR is essential to this task because, in short, the academic community now knows what it takes to teach children to read, and the most successful methods are also the most scientifically based ones. SBRR is at the heart of literacy professional development for teachers because it embodies the Five Essentials: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The research underpinning SBRR has demonstrated that only proper instruction in and measurement of all five components leads children to read and understand accurately the words on the page – the essence of reading.
