Ten auditory and ten visual aptitude measures were administered in the middle of first grade to a sample of 58 low readers. More than half of this low reader sample had scored more than a year below expected grade level on two or more aptitudes. Word recognition measures were administered after four months of sight word instruction and again after an additional four months of intensive phonic instruction. Correlations of aptitude and word recognition scores after sight word instruction were compared with correlations of aptitude and word recognition scores after phonic instruction. The results indicated that visual aptitudes were not more highly correlated with achievement after sight word instruction, nor were auditory aptitudes more highly correlated after phonic instruction. Blending, Auditory Closure, and WISC Coding were consistently related to achievement for both kinds of instruction. All the children learned to decode before the end of eight months of experimental instruction. (Author/WR)