A study examined the effectiveness of a pilot Reading Recovery (RR) program. Guidelines for the project were set forth in a joint proposal by the Portland Public Schools and Portland State University. Subjects, 40 first grade students enrolled in the Portland Public School system and identified as at-risk, were given instruction equivalent to between 7 and 12 weeks, depending on the availability of trained RR teachers. Posttests were given to the subjects at the end of the school year. The pilot program encountered three problems which seriously affected its implementation: (1) uncertainties concerning the level of difficulty of the books used; (2) difficulties in accurately determining how to gauge the children's rates of progress; and (3) inadequate duration of instruction. Because of these problems, the study does not attempt to assess the pilot RR program. However, the experiences resulting from the pilot program indicated that there are many encouraging signs for the success of a full-fledged RR program. (Three tables and six figures of data are included, as is a postscript comparing the RR pilot project implemented independently in Portland and RR implemented under trained teacher leaders in sites in Ohio.) (RS)