Lots of $$ and not much gain in reading ability

From the Executive Summary...
"This report presents findings from the third and final year of the Reading First Impact Study (RFIS), a congressionally mandated evaluation of the federal government’s $1.0 billion-per-year initiative to help all children read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (PL 107-110, Title I, Part B, Subpart 1) established Reading First (RF) and mandated its evaluation...

• Reading First produced a positive and statistically significant impact on amount of instructional time spent on the five essential components of reading instruction promoted by the program (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension) ingrades one and two.
  

• Reading First produced positive and statistically significant impacts on multiple practices that are promoted by the program, including professional development in scientifically based reading instruction (SBRI), support from full-time reading coaches, amount of reading instruction, and supports available for struggling readers.
  

• Reading First did not produce a statistically significant impact on student reading comprehension test scores in grades one, two or three.
  

• Reading First produced a positive and statistically significant impact on decoding among first grade students tested in one school year (spring 2007)."

Links to the full report, Executive Summary and Appendices are available here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20094038.asp