A review of the literature on reading instruction shows that the earliest reference to content area reading practice was in 1919 when William S. Gray reported that he had asked high school teachers to list the uses that pupils make of reading in preparing assignments. In 1925, the adage "every teacher a teacher of reading" first appeared in the yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. By the time the International Reading Association was formed in 1955 principles and specific skills of content area reading were defined, and many of the practices now advocated were expressed. The International Reading Association became the conduit for an organized and sustained thrust to teach reading in all content areas. There has been an increase in the listings on the subject in conference programs, in the number of dissertations on the subject, in the occurrence of courses on content area reading, in the number of textbooks and journal articles, and in commercial materials available. The results of many recent surveys on the topic of content area reading suggest that greater numbers of inservice and undergraduate courses are needed and that state-mandated reading courses are necessary at the secondary school level. (MKM)