The staff of the Reading Project of the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, having previously experimented with beginning reading programs, adapted commercially available materials for use in an individualized elementary school environment. Their activities culminated in The New Primary Grades Reading System…

A model curriculum for individually prescribed reading instruction based on a linguistic approach to reading was developed. Four overlapping stages of reading were defined: prereading, decoding, comprehension and skills development, and independent reading. Within these four stages, 13 areas of study on 11 levels of difficulty were delineated, and…