Grants Modeled on Reading First Aim to Bolster K-8 Math Teaching

Program much more modest, though, than the president had proposed.

A year and a half ago, President Bush proposed creating a new federal mathematics effort that would offer millions of dollars in grants to school districts to adopt proven strategies for improving classroom instruction in that subject.

Last month, federal lawmakers gave the president what he was looking for—with some differences.

Administration officials had pictured the new program, called Math Now, as being modeled on Reading First, the $1 billion-ayear federal effort that provides money for research-based improvements in reading instruction...