Even though small group instruction is a research-based intervention and has many benefits, researchers have shown that many students are reading below grade level and struggle with mastering reading skills, and this may be due to the ineffectiveness of small-group reading instruction. The problem that was addressed in this study was teachers' concern about the effectiveness of their small group reading instruction because so much emphasis was placed on students reading independently, 80% of the time in two to three 20-minute rotations. Teachers were also concerned that students were not effectively being taught decoding and language comprehension skills due to time constraints. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to explore kindergarten through second-grade teachers' and paraprofessionals' perspectives of small group reading instruction to improve reading skills of students in kindergarten through second grade. Lev Vygotsky's social constructivism theory reflects small group reading instruction by students learning from a more knowledgeable person. A qualitative phenomenological study design was used by conducting teacher and paraprofessional interviews and a teacher questionnaire. The participants included eight teachers and two paraprofessionals from an elementary school located in a large metropolitan district in Southeast Georgia. The teachers and paraprofessionals were asked opened-ended questions about their experiences, meaning, and views on small group reading instruction. The data were analyzed to determine emerging themes on how a phenomenon is experienced or perceived. The results of this study revealed that teachers' and paraprofessionals' perceptions are that small group reading instruction is effective if teachers are given more opportunity to utilize a variety of research-based reading programs, strategies, and activities that work best per classroom and not per district. Recommendations for future practices would be to allow teachers to build on students' foundational skills before whisper reading 80% of the time and provide teachers with a variety of research-based reading interventions, strategies, and activities. Recommendations for future research include conducting the same study, but completing teacher observations versus a questionnaire and expanding the study to explore teachers' and paraprofessionals' perspectives in the surrounding schools. Additionally, a recommendation for future research would be to focus on small group mathematics instruction. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]