Intended for educators involved in developing secondary school reading programs, this paper describes a carefully balanced program implemented in the Wisconsin public school system for grades 7 through 12. Following a brief introduction to and rationale for the concept of a reading program that balances instruction in reading for skill development, reading for recreation, and reading for information in the content areas, the paper discusses each phase of such a program. The second part of the paper presents a diagnostic model for evaluating a balanced program, including the components for formal and informal assessment. The paper concludes with a selected reading list, categories of which correspond to the skills, recreation, content area reading, and evaluation stages of the program. (HTH)