In "Beyond Test Scores: Leading Indicators for Education," Foley and colleagues (2008) define leading indicators as those that "provide early signals of progress toward academic achievement" (p. 1) and stress that educators "need leading indicators to help them see the direction their efforts are going in and to take corrective action as soon as possible" (p. 3). The authors identify early reading proficiency as one leading indicator that is commonly used by school districts. This brief in the Leading Indicator Spotlight series will discuss why this indicator is useful, how this indicator is measured by school districts, and how districts can put data about this indicator into action for intervention and reform. (Contains 3 footnotes.) [For companion report, "Beyond Test Scores: Leading Indicators for Education," see ED533117.]