This article contrasts two major attempts at educational reform with regard to literacy. Starting with a brief background to the introduction of the National Literacy Strategy, together with an analysis of research into effective literacy teaching, it presents qualitative research carried out in the form of a comparative study of the National Literacy Strategy and Success for All. This small-scale study of four schools confirmed the hypothesis that the underpinning pedagogy needs to be explicitly understood for such a large-scale initiative to be effective.