I have always felt that good reading instruction needs to have as its basis a solid phonics approach. However, if that's all there is, some students are going to be left behind. Great numbers of young kids lack the ability to interpret phonetic symbols. Why? Poor diet? Too much TV? Unstable home environment? All of the above, and much more, I'm sure. Dyslexia and poor auditory memory are among the factors that contribute to delayed reading ability. These kids usually require small-group or individual instruction, allowing them the extra attention they need to crack the code. But along with phonics they need to learn how to use the "whole-word" approach, context clues, all the skills normally developing kids generally pick up on their own. My experience--which is limited to US public schools--is that all too often the people who teach reading will drop what they are doing and shift to a new program with a radically different emphasis, simply because a new magic bullet has come down from academia. This goes back, at least, to the Chomsky era in the 60's. I believe that many, many students identified as learning-disabled would be doing just fine with a systematic, balanced approach to reading instruction.

This is a concern in other academic areas as well--remember "new math"? But that's another subject.