Focusing on eliminating the disparity of literacy between low income, ethnically or culturally diverse populations and their more advantaged counterparts, this paper describes policies and procedures on how to ensure that all children in Washington State schools attain the highest levels of literacy possible. After some background information, the first section examines theoretical and research perspectives of reading and includes discussion of background and vocabulary knowledge, comprehension, fluency, reading and motivation, considering reading materials, and reading as a developmental process. The second section considers practices that support reading development and includes research on practices and balanced instruction for beginning readers. The third section discusses reading for fourth grade and beyond and describes issues concerning teaching comprehension, metacognition, teaching strategies, vocabulary learning, and the reading/writing connection. The last section deals with children at risk and discusses beginning reading, phonemic awareness, studies that focus on comprehension, and sociocultural issues. (Contains approximately 300 references; an appendix contains 6 tables of data.) (SC)