There are many arguments for and against the use of i.t.a. to teach reading and writing. This article reviews 47 studies which measure the spelling of children taught by i.t.a. and t.o. (traditional orthography) in grades one, two, and three. (Editor)

Two independent pilot studies in Britain investigated the effect of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) on the creative expression and verbal skills in written composition of young children. The Staffordshire study compared a normal week's free compositions written by 54 children using the traditional alphabet with the compositions of a similar…