In elementary school, an important goal of reading instruction is to enable children to read most words automatically by sight so that they can focus on learning from and enjoying what they are reading. But becoming a strong reader takes several years. Parents and caregivers need to know if a child is making good progress in learning to read.…

The "Dyslexia Training Program," developed at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, is a Tier III reading intervention program that provides intensive phonics instruction to children with dyslexia, primarily in grades two through five. It is a comprehensive two-year program that bridges the gap for school districts in which a…

This textbook is a first-year reader. Lessons in this book relate to objects which are familiar to every child and which may be brought into every schoolroom. In accordance with the method pursued in the majority of the best schools, script is introduced at the same time with the Roman characters. This, besides other advantages, enables the…

Responds to an earlier essay that made claims about the origins of written language as the basis for advocating a particular method of teaching reading, clarifying: the origins of the alphabet, the "flimsy" nature of the alphabetic principle, and the implications of both for teaching reading. After examining the origins of written…

Responds to a critique of an earlier article on alphabetic writing that made claims about the origins of written language as the basis for advocating a particular method of teaching reading, suggesting that the critique actually supports the original article's position, and nothing in the critique justifies its conclusion that children need…

This paper provides a rationale which rejects misinformation, assumptions, and biases as bases for decision making on the use of i.t.a. in teaching reading and writing to primary school children. A discussion is provided which questions the reality of professionalism in teacher-administrator populations as well as the reality of a concern for the…

Shows that an errorless discrimination training (EDT) group made significantly fewer errors during instruction in learning the letters of the alphabet than did a reinforcement-extinction group. (RB)

Media education specialist John Culkin talks with editor John Drexel about learning to read in the television age--and discusses a new alphabet, UNIFON, that may help solve the literacy crisis. (Editor)

Analyzes the Bullock commission's view on the methodology of beginning reading instruction with special reference to i.t.a. (RB)

Concludes that letter-sound learning, word recognition, and reading ability do not appear to be affected by letter-name instruction. (RB)

US government mandates to implement intensive phonics instruction in elementary classrooms invoke an alleged scientific superiority of this approach over more meaning-centered models. But curiously absent from this scientific enterprise is a study of the phonics system itself. Advocates of intensive phonics have not demonstrated that the commonly…

Reports on a visual-auditory analysis of each of the 1575 e-ending words found on the "Rinsland Vocabulary List" to determine whether the e should be considered as a diacritic. (RB)

This textbook is a first reader that includes exercises on phonetics and word-building, word grouping, introduction of phonic elements, the grouping or indentation of sentences, nursery rhymes, and the letters of the alphabet. Footnotes and references are provided for teacher's guidance.

Presents i.t.a. in a way that enables a teacher to learn the i.t.a. code individually and describes i.t.a. on the basis of American pronunciation. (TO)