A study examined the effectiveness of an integrated language arts instructional format for teaching reading compared with the effectiveness of the typical traditional reading program. The study investigated the effectiveness of approaches that are representative of both viewpoints of the reading process (i.e., word recognition and the construction of meaning) with fourth- and fifth-grade students who, based on their Total Normal Curve Equivalent scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), exhibited severe reading problems. Subjects were 123 randomly selected students (50 from grade 4 and 80 from grade 5) from a public school system in a small southern town. Of these 123 students, 25 fourth graders and 40 fifth graders were randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group. Both groups were administered the Interest Reading Inventory (IRI), the Slosson Oral Reading Test (SORT), and the Analytical Reading Inventory (fifth edition) (ARI), Narrative and Expository. Results indicated that the integrated language arts format for reading instruction increased reading comprehension performance and had no significant effect on word recognition performance. Also a relation was found between scores on the DSI and word-recognition performance; however, no relation was found between Dyslexia Screening Instrument (DSI) scores and reading comprehension. Findings suggest that teaching students how to use a variety of comprehension and vocabulary strategies as well as how to monitor their own learning may equip them with effective tools for constructing meaning. (Contains 14 references and 8 tables of data.) (CR)