Reading First is a national initiative, established under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Specifically, Reading First was authorized by Title I, Part B, Subpart I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. California was approved on August 23, 2002, to receive approximately $900 million, over a six-year period, to improve K-3 classroom instruction in reading provided that "substantial progress" is made toward the goal that by the end of third grade, all students are grade level proficient readers in English.
The California Reading First Plan calls for the use of one of two current State adopted, scientific research and standards-based English reading/language arts instructional programs, including an option to use the Spanish alternative version of the English program. Through a set of subgrant assurances, the successfully competing LEAs and their eligible schools agree to set high learning expectations for all students, implement explicit program components, which include the program's embedding instructional strategies; a pacing schedule; minimal, uninterrupted instructional minutes (60 minutes for kindergarten, 150 minutes for grades 1-3) and extended time for at-risk students (30-40 minutes): curriculum-embedded assessments every 6 to 8 weeks; professional development for teachers annually (120 hours); professional development for principals (80 hours initially with follow-up support annually); and instructional support systems (e.g., a coach per 30 teachers and content experts for support to coaches).
The State provides a technical assistance network to support the implementation of the Assurances. The California Technical Assistance Center along with nine Regional Technical Assistance Centers offer LEAs:
Information on providers available for teacher institutes (AB466, Year 1, and Reading First Advanced I, Year 2, and Advanced II, Year 3 trainings)
State sponsored coach institutes for Reading First coaches and content experts (20-day program)
Local Educational Agencies (LEA) Work Sessions, 4 to 5 days, for leadership team members on key strategies for implementing the Assurances
State sponsored resource materials (e.g. 6-8 week Unit/Theme Skill Assessments for monitoring instructional effectiveness; on-line reporting system for the Skill Assessments; End-of-Year Assessments; and reference materials)
Support materials (e.g., training videos, publications)
LEA/site walkthroughs and consultation
Description of the 7 links in the title bar:
Assurances—Publications and Presentations describing the Reading First Assurances
Technical Assistance—General Services Available from California and Regional Technical Assistance Centers
Trainings—Program-specific Professional Development Offerings through the California Reading Development Center and its Network of Reading Implementation Centers (AB 466, AB 75, and Reading First Advanced Institutes)
Coach Institutes—Description of Year 1 and Year 2 modules, Cohort One and Cohort Two coach institutes, and details on the UCLA Reading Coach Preparation Program
Information on the Skill Assessments for districts using the instructional programs: Houghton Mifflin Reading Program (English and Spanish) and SRA/Open Court 2000 (English only) and SRA/Open Court 2002 (English and Spanish)
Information on the On-Line Assessment Reporting System
Information on the End-of-Year Assessments (English and Spanish)
