TOMORROW'S ILLITERATES

This survey with an introduction by Jacques Barzun attributes one of the main reasons for illiteracy today to the ""loss of proper pedagogy in the lower schools"". A more specific analysis of the deficit and the guilty factors shows that the reading problem is a teaching problem and points to the fallacy of the reading readiness concept, the primers with restricted vocabularies and insists on the value of phonics as a basis for any reading program. With suggestions for aggressive action this is one point of view parents and teachers should examine in their research to challenge the problem.