THIS RESEARCH STUDY EVALUATED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THREE METHODS OF FIRST-GRADE READING INSTRUCTION EMPLOYING SIMILAR BASAL READER STORY CONTENT. THE THREE METHODS WERE--(A) THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES OUTLINED IN THE TEACHERS MANUAL ACCOMPANYING THE GINN BASIC READING SERIES, (B) A LEVELS-DESIGNED PROGRAM STRESSING EARLY INTENSIVE LETTER READINESS ACTIVITIES FOLLOWED BY EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES FOR TEACHING WORD RECOGNITION, PHASE READING, ORAL AND SILENT READING SKILLS, AND (C) READING PROCEDURES SIMILAR TO THOSE SPECIFIED IN METHOD B IMPLEMENTED AND SUPPLEMENTED BY A 10-LEVEL WRITING PROGRAM USING BASAL READER VOCABULARY. BOTH METHODS B AND C USED THE GINN READING SERIES FOR VOCABULARY AND STORY CONTENT ONLY. CERTAIN GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR DIFFERENTIATING AND INDIVIDUALIZING READING SKILLS INSTRUCTION WERE FOLLOWED BY TEACHERS OF GROUPS B AND C. THESE COVERED IDENTIFYING DIFFERENCES IN ABILITY LEVEL, INDIVIDUAL RATES OF LEARNING, REMEDIAL SKILLS, ENCOURAGING INITIATIVE-THINKING ABILITY, AND IMPROVING QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF PUPIL PARTICIPATION READING ACTIVITIES. THIRTY-SIX TEACHERS AND 958 FIRST-GRADE PUPILS FROM SANGER AND CLOVIS, CALIFORNIA, PUBLIC SCHOOLS WERE THE TOTAL SAMPLE. SANGER PUPILS USED METHOD A AND CLOVIS PUPILS USED METHODS B AND C. FOLLOWING THE 140-DAY EXPERIMENTAL PERIOD, THE READING ABILITIES OF ALL THE CHILDREN WERE MEASURED AND THE RESULTS STATISTICALLY ANALYZED. THE SUPERIORITY OF A HIGHLY DIFFERENTIATED PROGRAM OF READING INSTRUCTION OVER A DEVELOPMENTALLY ORIENTED BASAL READER PROGRAM IS CLEARLY APPARENT BY STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES, FAVORING GROUPS B AND C ON ALL CRITERION MEASUREMENTS. (GC)