Evaluation Indicates Limited Effects Under Early Reading First Program

The federal effort to bolster emergent literacy skills has yielded some improvement in preschoolers’ knowledge of letters and understanding of print concepts, but has had little effect on other skills deemed critical precursors to reading, an evaluation released last week by the Institute of Education Sciences concludes .

The final report on the Early Reading First program , conducted by outside researchers under contract to the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, found the program has had the most significant effect in improving classroom activities and materials, as well as teacher practices...