To test the effects of teaching inner-city black children to read in kindergarten and first grade through the initial teaching alphabet, i.t.a. and traditional orthography (TO) groups were compared on their comprehension of single words, short sentences, and related skills. At the first grade level, reading, writing, and oral language skills were…

THE RESULTS OF THE CONTINUATION OF USOE PROJECT 2745 WHICH EVALUATED THE READING ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS TAUGHT BY THE INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET (ITA), THE DIACRITICAL MARKING SYSTEM (DMS), AND A TYPICAL BASAL READING SERIES (TO) ARE REPORTED. A NEW SET OF DMS MATERIALS WAS DEVELOPED AND USED IN SEVEN FIRST GRADES. THE READING ACHIEVEMENT OF THESE…

Based on its use with first graders in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for an eleven year period, the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) appears to have a number of advantages for reading instruction. These years of research have indicated that the advantages of i.t.a. are that it permits the child to: advance more rapidly in reading and writing…

A COMPARISON WAS MADE OF FOUR DIFFERENT METHODS OF TEACHING BEGINNING READING. THE PROGRAMS STUDIED WERE (1) AN ECLECTIC, "WHOLE WORD" READING PROGRAM PRESENTED IN SCOTT, FORESMAN PUBLICATIONS, (2) A "PHONIC" READING PROGRAM PUBLISHED BY J.B. LIPPINCOTT, (3) A COMBINATION ECLECTIC, "WHOLE WORD - PHONIC" READING…

This book suggests that first graders could express themselves on paper more easily and naturally if they were taught the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.). The chapters take up (1) the neglect of writing skills in a reading-oriented nation, (2) a comparison of the writing performance of students who learned the i.t.a. with that of students who…