THIS STUDY EVALUATED THE EFFECTS OF A BASAL READER PROGRAM, A MODIFIED LINGUISTIC APPROACH, AND A LINGUISTIC READER PROGRAM AS MEASURED BY THE READING ACHIEVEMENT OF 469 CHILDREN IN 21 CLASSES AT THE END OF FIRST GRADE. ACHIEVEMENT COMPARIONS WERE ALSO MADE ON THE BASES OF (1) SEX, (2) INTELLIGENCE, AND (3) RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN READING READINESS TEST SCORES AT THE BEGINNING OF GRADE ONE AND SUBSEQUENT ACHIEVEMENT AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. ANALYSIS OF THE PRE- AND POST-TEST SCORES AND INFORMATION GAINED DURING THE ACTUAL INSTRUCTIONAL SESSIONS INDICATED THAT NO ONE OF THE THREE APPROACHES WAS MORE EFFECTIVE IN TEACHING BEGINNING READING. EXAMINATION OF THE VARIOUS ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES FROM ALL THREE TREATMENT GROUPS INDICATED THAT MOST OF THE CHILDREN LEARNED TO READ AT ACCEPTABLE LEVELS. (JH)