This study described a program designed to increase student reading comprehension in order to improve academic achievement. The targeted population consisted of third and eighth grade students in two schools located in Northern Illinois. Evidence for the existence of the problem included scores from the Stanford Test, low academic performance on teacher made tests, teacher observations, and surveys. Analysis of the probable cause data revealed that reading comprehension could be broken down into six areas of concern. Students were not spending much time reading in or out of school. Early reading programs had little or improper instruction in phonics. Teachers lacked the proper training in reading instruction. There was a limited amount of resources provided by the district. There was a large range of ability within the classroom, which had impacted the ability of teachers to address each student's reading needs. Finally, teachers were also dealing with a high mobility rate throughout the district, which affected learning. A review of the solution strategies suggested by the professional literature, combined with an analysis of the settings of the problem, resulted in the development of an after school program combining cross-age tutoring by pairs, phonics instruction and reciprocal teaching. Post intervention data indicated an increase in students' ability to decode words, and an increase in comprehension. Appendixes contain the teacher survey and two sample worksheets.(Contains 44 references, 2 figures, and 11 tables.) (Author/RS)