Definition of initial teaching alphabet in English:
initial teaching alphabet
noun
A 44-letter phonetic alphabet used to help those beginning to read and write English. It was used in many British primary schools in the 1960s but is now rarely seen.
Educators may remember the debate about the so-called ITA, initial teaching alphabet, which relied on a more phonemic spelling, with the aim of helping children to learn to read more quickly.
Although most names are upper case, there are such exceptions as the Initial Teaching Alphabet (or initial teaching alphabet), officially abbreviated as i.t.a. and ita.
Children in the experimental class received classroom instruction in a room where only the initial teaching alphabet was used for reading and writing.