Reading skills in a Midwestern suburban school are poorly developed. Evidence of the problem includes test scores, students' inability to read directions in text as reported by the teachers of the school, and oral reading performances by the students. This action research study describes methods for increasing active strategic reading as an intervention. The targeted population consisted of students in a second-grade regular education classroom and a self-contained first- through fifth-grade cross-categorical special education classroom. Through published literature, educational leaders and researchers suggest a number of probable causes. The "whole language" trend with lack of phonics instruction, and phonics instruction in isolation has been reported to be a contributing factor. Absence of early reading experiences, limited individual instruction in schools, lack of understanding and use of multiple reading strategies, and socioeconomic influences were also found to be contributing factors. Through a review of literature containing solution strategies, the researchers concluded that instruction in the mechanics of reading is key to improving students' reading levels. With the support of these findings, the researchers developed an intervention plan designed to increase the number of reading strategies used by the targeted students. Specifically, the goal was to increase students' awareness of onsets and rimes, their use of context cues, and their use of picture cues. The components of the intervention program included assessment tools for pre-intervention testing and post-intervention testing. Instructional tools were selected from published words, or designed by the researchers to obtain the goals set. Post-intervention data indicated an increase in reading skills. Through analysis of data collected, the researchers concluded that this was attributed to the students' application of reading strategies learned during the intervention period. (Contains 26 references, 8 tables, and 8 figures of data. Appendixes contain a phonics inventory, worksheets, and checklists.) (Author/RS)