This research review on basic reading skills begins with an historical perspective on reading methods, followed by an overview of reading instruction methods for the general population. Research findings are presented on several instructional methods, including phonetic, linguistic, artificial orthography, basal reading, and language experience methods. Findings from the Cooperative Research Program, consisting of 27 coordinated studies of beginning reading, are also reported. The literature review then focuses on teaching learning-disabled children to read, describing several studies which compare instructional methods such as phonics versus other methods, phonics versus phonics (experimental materials), and the language experience approach versus other methods. The relative effectiveness of multisensory techniques is then analyzed, with discussions of theoretical foundations for use of visual auditory kinesthetic tactile (VAKT) techniques, challenges to these theories, and research results of VAKT's impact on word recognition and visual discrimination. In order to give a representative picture of the state of research, two reading method studies which lack control groups are described. Finally, investigations regarding the efficacy of various types of supplemental instruction for the learning-disabled child are reviewed, divided according to type of service provided: resource room programs; tutoring; and remedial reading clinics. (JDD)