From what I understand, Reading First isn’t a reading program per say but really an initiative designed to give money to districts who promise to uphold to standards that have been set under the Reading First guidelines. There are some problems with the study and Reading First as I note in a link on my own blog entry: http://ldtc.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=20 .

Either way if nothing else what Reading First has done is to set up a competition to give money to schools. This means that even the schools who don’t get the money are at least taking a closer look at what they need to provide for students to succeed. In that sense Reading First is a good idea because it puts everyone in the mindset of improving what they have to offer. Reading First at least helps to raise the bar and establishes a benchmark for what a successful reading program should have.