According to the United States Department of Education, Early Reading First (ERF), part of the President's "Good Start, Grow Smart" initiative, is designed to transform existing early education programs into centers of excellence that provide high-quality, early education to young children, especially those from low-income families. The overall purpose of the Early Reading First Program is to prepare young children to enter kindergarten with the necessary language, cognitive, and early reading skills to prevent reading difficulties and ensure school success.

The goals of Early Reading First are:

• To support local efforts to enhance the early language, literacy, and prereading development of preschool-age children, particularly those from low-income families, through strategies and professional development that are based on scientifically based reading research
• To provide preschool-age children with cognitive learning opportunities in high-quality language and literature-rich environments so that the children can attain the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for optimal reading development in kindergarten and beyond
• To demonstrate language and literacy activities based on scientifically based reading research that support the age-appropriate development of
  • Oral language (vocabulary, expressive language, listening comprehension)
  • Phonological awareness (rhyming, blending, segmenting)
  • Print awareness
  • Alphabetic knowledge
• To use screening assessments to effectively identify preschool-age children who may be at risk for reading failure