ABSTRACT
For the most part, generations of Americans have been successful in learning to read (Smith, 1965). Despite this track record of success, the methods and materials for beginning reading instruction have been under constant scrutiny. Debates over ‘what’s new’ and ‘what’s best’ have propelled changes. Sometimes the changes were tied to legitimate concerns over effectiveness, as with the dismal performance of children of poverty in response to traditional reading programmes. Sometimes, though, materials and methods that have held sway over practice faded away with no apparent reason only to be replaced by others. What appears to be rational and reasoned in some shifts is often followed by changes that defy explanation.
