Reading achievement in the United States has stagnated. In 2009, only 33 percent of Fourth Graders were proficient or above in reading--a mere two percentage points higher than in 1998. At the same time, double-digit achievement gaps between African American and Latino/Hispanic students and their white counterparts have changed little in nearly two decades. More troubling, there are few examples of system-wide success stories--school districts that have improved equity and overall student achievement. Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland is one such example. Since 1998, the district's population of English Language Learners increased 103 percent and the number of students receiving a free or reduced lunch went up 44 percent. During the same period, MCPS improved the proportion of Third Graders reading proficiently or above to 88.9 percent, shrank its Third Grade reading achievement gap by 29 percentage points, and increased the number of students taking at least one Advanced Placement exam by 25 percentage points to 61.5 percent--almost 2.5 times that of the national average. In addition, nearly 77 percent of all graduating seniors enroll in college. So, how did MCPS accomplish this even as its demographics rapidly changed? It started early, at the beginning of the education "value chain" and made large and consistent investments in early learning. Today, 91 percent of MCPS Kindergartners enter First Grade ready to learn, reading at text level 4 or above according to the standards-based Assessment Program in Primary Reading. This paper presents lessons drawn from Montgomery County Public Schools. A glossary of programs, plans and initiatives is included. (Contains 6 figures and 35 endnotes.)