Third year results (Grade 2) are reported for the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) study, selected as an experimental reading medium because its symbol-sound consistency makes learning to read a simpler task. Instruction was begun at the kindergarten level. The study investigated whether the i.t.a. program helps improve the reading skills of the…

To determine if children who have been taught to read using the i.t.a. would write stories with a vocabulary more nearly approaching the variety and extent of their oral vocabulary than would children who had been taught traditional orthography (T.O.), comparisons were made between 82 experimental (i.t.a.) and 80 control (T.O.) subjects matched on…