In 1976, the Montgomery County Public Schools began the development of a kindergarten through grade 8 Instructional Program in Reading/Language Arts (IPR/LA) for teaching the English language arts. Goals of the effort were to improve reading and listening comprehension instruction and to improve program consistency across grades, schools, and areas. The first full year of data collection for the reading program was 1982-83. During that year the focus of study centered on descriptive information about the characteristics of reading instruction and problems in the implementation process in the study schools. A sample of 20 elementary schools was selected for the reading study and stratified on the basis of achievement level and length of time the school had been exposed to IPR/LA. Study findings indicated that while some teachers were able to implement the revised curriculum in a number of areas, some serious problems still remained. Further, the program was not implemented for students at all achievement levels. In addition, no consistent criteria were in use system-wide to monitor program implementation. Neither the training nor the materials provided to schools to support the implementation process were perceived as adequate. Finally, the role of the reading teacher appeared to have changed, which created role conflicts for some school-based reading teachers. A technical appendix includes data collection procedures and instruments used in classroom observation. (HOD)