The purpose of this study was to compare an individualized reading approach with a basal reader approach employed in a sixth grade classroom within the middle school. where the investigator taught.The importance of this research study was to provide data for determining more effective utilization of means and materials which are available to the teacher of reading interested in these two approaches.Further, proponents of individualized reading point to the greater number of books read by students, as well as enthusiasm for reading, and cite the wide ranges of interests which may be covered with this approach. Greater numbers of books read would mean the school library and its staff would, in the future, need to play a greater role in the reading program.Those favoring the basal approach cite the program of sequential skill instruction provided through the manual as well as vocabulary control which they assert have brought about progress in the past.The significance of this research was as follows: First, the teacher interested in these two approaches would have available a means of comparing one approach with another. Second, a definition of both programs and means by which both were implemented would give those who wish to follow these methods a guide. Third, those who wished to duplicate this study could compare their data with that reported here.Because of the claims and counter claims by proponents of individualized reading and basal reading, as well as the lack of clear cut findings from past research, further research in these two areas was needed. On this basis the research study was undertaken.The problem was delimited through use of one class, made up of sixth grade students in the Mount Pleasant Township Middle School, in Yorktown, Indiana. These students were taught by the investigator who employed both approaches using procedures typically applied in programs of individualized reading and basal reading. The period for application of the approaches was thirty weeks with testing being done at the end of the fifth six weeks period.It was hypothesized that individualized reading and basal reading approaches would provide comparable results.