Eight approaches to the teaching of elementary reading are described briefly. The Executive Committee of the Department of Elementary-Kindergarten-Nursery Education of the National Education Association selected the approaches to be discussed. They include (1) Language Experience Approach by R. V. Allen, (2) Phonic Approach by Charles E. Wingo, (3) Basal Reading Series by A. Sterl Artley, (4) Individualized Approach by Willard C. Olson, (5) Multilevel Reading Instruction by Don H. Parker, (6) Initial Teaching Alphabet by Sir James Pitman, (7) Words in Color by Dorothea E. Hinman, and (8) Linguistics in Beginning Reading by Charles C. Fries. These statements provide a spectrum of current thinking and discussion in the field of reading and offer an opportunity for teachers, curriculum committees, college and university teachers and students, and other groups and individuals to examine these approaches within a common framework. References are included. (Author/RT)