Report 2.2: Choices and Voices: Understanding Effective Teaching in Michigan’s Reading
First Classrooms by Sarah E. Scott, Leah van Belle, by Joanne F. Carlisle

Title 1 Part B of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 establishes a federal program called Reading First. This program was set up to provide necessary assistance to states to establish research-based reading programs for students in kindergarten through grade 3 (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). It places unparalleled emphasis on improving literacy instruction in primary classrooms, significantly increasing the federal investment in reading instruction in the early grades. To meet the demands of this federal mandate, teachers and schools that receive Reading First funding must adjust the way they go about the business of teaching reading and providing professional development
for teachers