This volume is an organized collection of papers which were presented at the International Reading Association convention at Atlantic City. The authors are scholars concerned with early childhood education. They explore topics that range from conclusions drawn from research on implicit speech to the advisability of teaching reading to preschoolers. The papers address themselves to a number of questions: What constitutes the "best" readiness strategies? What are some "best" measures of assessing readiness for beginning reading and/or for predicting reading failure? Is it "best" to teach reading to preschoolers? What strategies are "best" in preschool beginning-reading programs? How may beginning-reading strategies be "best" integrated and articulated with the total language arts program? Are there some "best" strategies for teaching phonics, decoding, blending, and other word-analysis skills to beginning readers? Are linguistics strategies "better" than traditional phonics in teaching beginning reading? What are the "best" answers to claims that auditory/perceptual/discrimination training and visual/perceptual/discrimination training are significant factors in beginning reading? Is silent reading the "best" strategy when language is essentially phonemic? (Author/WR)