The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of whole language instruction in first-grade classrooms. Three whole language classrooms were compared with three traditional classrooms. Data were collected for end-of-the-year achievement in reading comprehension, vocabulary, phonemic awareness, decoding, spelling, and writing. There were no significant differences between the two instructional programs on any of the variables. The study also examined whether there would be differences between whole language and traditional instruction in end-of-the-year reading, writing, and spelling achievement for children with varying levels of incoming phonemic awareness, reading, and writing ability. Results suggested that neither program was more likely to close gaps between children high and low in these incoming abilities.

Two methods of delivering direct instruction were compared. Thirty-seven randomly selected juniors enrolled in a reading methods course were trained to use the Directed Reading Activity (DRA) delivered by lecture and discussion and were compared with 37 juniors instructed with videotape and simulation on their classroom teaching performance measured by a systematic observation in strument. Although there were no short-term differences in the performance of the two instruc tional groups, those instructed with videotape and simulation retained and used the information better over a longer period.