Reading Mastery
Category: Language/Reading
Grade Level: K to 6
1. What is the purpose of Reading
Mastery?
Reading Mastery is a basal reading program
designed to foster reading using a
systematic, structured, teacher-guided
approach.
2. With whom can it be used?
Reading Mastery was developed for children
in kindergarten through to grade 6. It may
also be used with children who are pre-K.
Reading Mastery can be beneficial to
students of all ability levels and can
therefore be implemented on a whole-class
or whole-school basis. However, it is both a
preventative measure and an effective
intervention for children who are at-risk for
reading difficulties, or who have reading
difficulties.
3. What is the format of Reading
Mastery?
Reading Mastery targets the development of
five reading-related skills, in sequential
order:
 Phonemic Awareness
Children are taught how to segment or break
words down in their smaller sound-units.
Common, high-frequency letters and sounds
are taught first. Children are also taught how
to blend phonemes together to form words.
 Decoding
Children are then taught to use what they
have learned in decoding and spelling
words. Reading Mastery uses a specific
orthography at this stage, designed to aid
children with decoding words. The
orthography provides visual cues about, for
example, which letters are stressed and
which are not. It is gradually faded out so
that students read conventional letter-
formations after having sufficient practice
with phoneme awareness.
 Irregularities
The next step involves teaching sight
recognition of common irregular words, i.e.
those which cannot be decoded phonetically.
It involves repetition and practice.
 Reading Accuracy and Fluency
Children read stories aloud which are
primarily composed of words they already
know. This is meant to foster both reading
comprehension and a sense of success on the
part of the student. A high emphasis on oral
reading (vs. silent reading) means that
students can be constantly monitored for
reading the words correctly and quickly.
 Reading Comprehension
In the context of teacher-guided activities,
children learn to answer questions about a
story, as well as how to draw conclusions
and make inferences while reading.
Emphasis is placed on learning new
vocabulary, understanding literal meanings,
making interpretations, and using reasoning
strategies.
4. What teaching procedures are used
with Reading Mastery?
Reading mastery is based on explicit
instruction wherein the teacher models
desired behaviour and attainable skills for
the students. This direct approach involves a
carefully sequenced step-by-step approach,
continuous assessment and immediate
student-feedback. Teachers have detailed
handbooks with scripted lessons designed to
be comprehensive for both the teacher and
the students. Students are given extensive
opportunities and time to practice new skills,
with the aim of developing fluency.
5. In what types of settings should
Reading Mastery be used?
Reading Mastery is best used in a smallgroup setting, and is often adopted by a
whole school. Direct instruction takes place
between the teacher and the students. During
the initial phases of a lesson, children
respond to the teacher as a group. Once the
concept or skill is firm, children are called
on to respond on an individual basis.
Students also do private work in a series of
workbooks, designed to consolidate their
learning.
6. To what extent has research shown
Reading Mastery to be useful?
There is an extensive research base on
Reading Mastery, due partly to the fact that
it has been in use for over 30 years (it was
originally called DISTAR). Research has
shown the program to be beneficial to
children who are just beginning to learn how
to read, who are at-risk for reading
difficulties, or who are diagnosed with
reading difficulties. Reading Mastery has
been successfully used with minority, ESL
(English as a Second Language) and lowSES (Socio-Economic Status) students.
Research supports the early emphasis on
oral language skills and phonemic
awareness, the explicit instruction and
modelling techniques, immediate corrective
feedback during oral reading, as well as the
comprehension techniques of focusing on
vocabulary, literal meaning, interpretation
and reasoning. Thus, both the validity of the
techniques and the overall effectiveness of
Reading Mastery have been supported by
research.
References:
1. Adams, G.L., & Englemann, S. (1996)
Research on Direct Instruction: 25 years
beyond DISTAR. Seattle, WA: Educational
Achievement Series.
2. American Federation of Teachers.
(1998) Building on the best, learning from
what works: Seven promising English
language arts programs. (Report No.
CS011326). Washington, D.C. (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. ED
421 695)
3. Briggs, K., & Clark, C. (1997) Reading
programs for students in the lower
elementary grades: What does the research
say? (ERIC document Reproduction Service
No. ED 420046)
4. Engelmann, S.. (2000) About reading –
A comparison of Reading Mastery and
Horizons. Effective School Practices, 18(3),
15-26.
5. Foorman, B. (1995) Research on the
“Great Debate”: Code-oriented versus whole
language approaches to reading instruction.
School Psychology Review, 24, 376-392.
6. National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development (1996) Thirty years of
NICHD research: What we now know about
how children learn to read. Effective School
Practices, 15(3), 33-46.
7. National Reading Panel. (2000)
Teaching children to read: An evidencebased assessment of the scientific research
literature on reading and its implications for
reading instruction. Retrieved November 7,
2004 from
http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org
8. Salerno, C. (1992) A comparison of
classrooms using a meaning centered
approach and a code-centered approach, ADI
News, 11(2), 26-29.
9. Schieffer, C., Marchand-Martella, N.,
Martella, R., & Simonsen, F. (2003) The
Research Base for Reading Mastery. Direct
Instruction Reading. Retrieved October 19,
2004 from http://sraonline.com
Website: http://www.sraonline.com
Reviewed by: Kate Herbert