AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP OF 461 CHILDREN WAS TAUGHT TO READ WITH THE INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET (I/T/A) BEGINNING IN KINDERGARTEN AND WAS READING TRADITIONAL ORTHOGRAPHY (T/O) MATERIALS BY THE END OF THE SECOND GRADE. THE CONTROL GROUP INCLUDED 462 CHILDREN WHO WERE TAUGHT TRADITIONAL ORTHOGRAPHY IN A PROGRAM CENTERED AROUND CONVENTIONAL BASAL READING…

Reports a study intended to examine whether there is a relationship between reading ability and the size of the visual units attended to during visual word processing. Concludes that both good and poor readers read holistically but that poor readers are deficient in analyzing a word's components. (JAD)

The pattern of errors of second grade pupils in reading isolated words was analyzed, particularly with respect to reversals of letter sequence and letter orientation. These occurred in significant quantity only among the poorer readers in the class. The two types of reversals were uncorrelated and, therefore, cannot reflect a single process.…

Second-grade pupils who were taught reading in the first grade with the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) were compared with pupils who were taught reading with traditional orthography (TO). Seventy students from two schools in Moline, Illinois, were divided into a control group (using TO) and an experimental group (using i.t.a.) and were matched…

A study investigated whether predictions of reading achievement could be improved by studying the relative contributions of alphabetic knowledge and invented spelling over time. Subjects, 38 upper middle-class children enrolled at an elementary school in the Midwest, were administered an alphabetic knowledge task (measuring letter names and letter…

The effects on written composition of two reading approaches--traditional orthography (TO) and the initial teaching alphabet (i.t.a.)--are compared. Two hundred and ninety-three first graders and 391 second graders, half of whom had learned reading with TO and half with i.t.a., were each asked to write two compositions. These essays were rated on…

Results agreed with previous findings that good and poor readers did not differ in mean scan rate when words instead of letters had been used as stimuli. (Authors)

DATA SECURED FROM SECOND GRADERS INVOLVED IN A COMPARISON OF THE USE OF THE INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET (ITA) AND OF TRADITIONAL ORTHOGRAPHY WHILE IN THE FIRST GRADE ARE REPORTED. IN THE SECOND GRADE, 132 EXPERIMENTAL PUPILS TAUGHT BY ITA AND 123 CONTROL PUPILS TAUGHT WITH TRADITIONAL ORTHOGRAPHY WERE AVAILABLE FOR STUDY. A COMPARISON WAS MADE BY…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of two methods of reading instruction on children's ability to write original compositions. The subjects for this study were 684 first and second graders. Of the 293 first grade children, 130 were receiving their reading instruction in i.t.a., while the remaining 163 children were working in…

FOR THE THIRD YEAR, THE FOLLOWING FOUR DIFFERENT METHODS OF TEACHING READING WERE CONTRASTED--(1) THE INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET, (2) A PHONIC, FILMSTRIP, WHOLE-CLASS APPROACH, (3) A WHOLE-WORD, ECLECTIC BASAL READER METHOD, AND (4) THE PRECEDING APPROACH SUPPLEMENTED BY A PHONICS PROGRAM. SOME 400 FIRST-GRADE PUPILS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO…

Reversals in poor and normal second-grade readers were studied in relation to their whole phonological error pattern in reading real words and nonsense syllables. Error categories included sequence and orientation reversals, other consonants, vowels, and total error. Reversals occurred in quantity only in poor readers, with large individual…

Discusses research on children's speed in identifying digits and letters in continuous lists and discrete trials. Latency for word identification and digit naming varied considerably. Naming speed contributed variance in reading skill independently of measures of phonological awareness. (Author/GH)

A study was conducted to determine the influence of a holistic versus a phonic approach in beginning reading on children's comprehension scores at the end of grade two. Two groups, each of approximately 350 students, were studied. Group one began reading instruction in first grade using the "Early-to-Read i.t.a. Program" (initial teaching…

THE RESULTS OF THE CONTINUATION OF USOE PROJECT 2745 WHICH EVALUATED THE READING ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS TAUGHT BY THE INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET (ITA), THE DIACRITICAL MARKING SYSTEM (DMS), AND A TYPICAL BASAL READING SERIES (TO) ARE REPORTED. A NEW SET OF DMS MATERIALS WAS DEVELOPED AND USED IN SEVEN FIRST GRADES. THE READING ACHIEVEMENT OF THESE…