To test the effects of teaching inner-city black children to read in kindergarten and first grade through the initial teaching alphabet, i.t.a. and traditional orthography (TO) groups were compared on their comprehension of single words, short sentences, and related skills. At the first grade level, reading, writing, and oral language skills were compared. At the end of kindergarten the results revealed: (1) no significant difference between i.t.a. and TO groups on the Metropolitan Readiness combined scores, (2) the i.t.a. subjects performed significantly higher than TO subjects on all Early Reading subtests, (3) interactions between program and teacher (or school) were significant on all Early Reading subtests. In grade one the i.t.a. subjects continued to use the i.t.a. program, while the TO subjects were instructed with the Scott, Foresman reading program. The first grade results indicated: (1) i.t.a. subjects achieved higher than TO subjects on all Stanford subtests, (2) i.t.a. subjects were better spellers and (3) could pronounce more words, had greater range of comprehension on oral reading, and seemed to read more library books; furthermore, (4) i.t.a. subjects wrote more fluently, and (5) their oral output was greater and more varied than oral output of TO subjects. (WR)