A study evaluated the Early Literacy program that served 2,332 underachieving pupils in grades 1 (1,842) and 2 (490) in the Columbus, Ohio, public schools. These students appeared unlikely to learn to read successfully without additional reading instruction. The program featured small group instruction each day for 40-45 minutes on reading and writing activities. A major part of the evaluation effort was accomplished through the administration of the Metropolitan Achievement Tests. Results indicated that: (1) 77.3% of a treatment group of 1,521 pupils displayed over time each of 3 strategic processing behaviors (constructing meaning, monitoring reading, and integrating sources of information; (2) of the 1,479 treatment group pupils with available retention data, 1,376 (93%) were promoted; (3) 755 (65.1%) grade 1 pupils read 5 or more books at level 8 or above and 208 (86.3%) grade 2 pupils independently read at least 10 books; (4) 204 (77.6%) pupils of 263 grade 2 students had normal curve equivalent (NCE) gains of 2.0 or more in Total Reading, with discontinued pupils having an average gain of 8.34 NCEs and not discontinued pupils showing greater improvement than did not discontinued pupils; and (5) 2,014 different parents or guardians were involved in the program, and 4,249 contacts were made by these individuals. Findings suggest continuation of the program with consideration given to 6 areas of concern. (Contains 15 figures of data.) (RS)