Offered as a guide for parents, community members, school boards, and administrators, as well as teachers, this book suggests that elementary reading and writing ability is not sufficient preparation for today's world and that literacy instruction cannot be improved without a drastic alteration in the methods most schools employ. Part one discusses the framework of the book and offers a review of the aims and principles of instruction in reading and writing directed to parents, administrators, and teachers. Part two describes teaching approaches in English, the sciences, the humanities, and the community and is addressed principally to teachers. (AEA)