Professional development that increases quality classroom instruction is a concern of school administrators and professional educators. Using survey, observation, and interview methods, four rural schools in the Upper Cumberland area of Tennessee were examined to determine if professional development supported by the Reading Excellence Act promoted, hindered, or had no effect on emergent literacy instruction. Treatment group participants were teachers from two schools within the Tennessee Technological University service area that were recipients of the Reading Excellence Act grants. Control group participants were teachers from two comparable schools within the same geographic location with similar demographics. Analysis of the self-administered surveys indicated that there was a significant positive interaction between teachers receiving REA modules of professional development and familiarity with, frequency of use of, and perceived importance of REA concepts. Observations and interviews corroborated the statistical analysis. The Reading Excellence Act professional development modules have shown promise for increasing the quality of emergent literacy instruction. Preliminary studies such as this investigation suggest that continuation of the professional development component of the grant is warranted. Implications are discussed in relation to future professional development programs.