The Need for an Independent Review of the Reading Mastery Study
Conducted by Dr. Randall Ryder
by Gary Adams

Read our comprehensive critique of Dr. Randall Ryder's study. The intent of Ryder's study was supposed to compare students who did and did not receive the Direct Instruction (DI) reading program called Reading Mastery (authored by Siegfried Engelmann and associates). Dr. Ryder’s third-year 102-page report stating that the Direct Instruction program was ineffective was described in a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee press release (http://www.uwm.edu/News/PR/04.01/Reading.html), which was picked up by several publications including Education Week “Study Challenges Direct Reading Method" on January 28, 2004 (http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=20Methods.h23&keywords=ryder).

For months, we have tried to get Dr. Ryder to answer simple questions about his study.

• Why didn't you get informed consent through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Institutional Research Board before you started your study?
• Why did he remove data from the statistical analysis favoring the students in the Reading Mastery after the analysis was completed?
• How many teachers and students were in your study?

Dr. Ryder has been unwilling or unable to answer these and many other questions.

We provide a critique of Dr. Ryder's study, but we are recommending that officials from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin legislature, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee contact Dr. Hilda Borko, the past president of the American Educational Research Association (http://www.aera.net/about/whoswho/execbd.htm). The appropriate Wisconsin officials should request that Dr. Borko create an independent board to review Dr. Ryder’s costly study.

Here are Dr. Ryder's Year 1 Report and Year 2 Report.

If you have further questions, please contact Gary L Adams, PhD at gadams@edresearch.com or 503.460.6664.

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