The purpose of this project was to test the effectiveness of i.t.a. in teaching reading to first grade students in the Portland Public Schools. Some of the elements of the experimental design included the following: one experimental--i.t.a.--and one control--traditional orthography (TO)--class was formed in each of ten schools; teachers and students were randomly assigned to i.t.a. and TO classes; three "waves" (1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70) of first grade classes were evaluated through the third grade; the TO classes used regular Portland Public School reading materials; and reading achievement, spelling achievement, composition, and handwriting were analyzed for significant differences. The results indicated that no significant differences were found between TO and i.t.a. groups in both reading and mathematics; the i.t.a. group used more words and misspelled fewer words; the i.t.a. students used significantly more phrase modifiers and words in their compositions; there were no significant differences in handwriting between the two groups; and i.t.a. does not appear to detract from scholastic skills. (WR)