The Direct Instructional System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading (DISTAR) was developed to provide beginning and remedial instruction to disadvantaged children. This paper describes the DISTAR reading program, noting its heavy emphasis on programmed learning and repetitive drill exercises; it then cites the opinions of proponents and opponents of the program and notes the results of previous studies of the effectiveness of DISTAR. The paper summarizes the results of a survey in which 72 inner-city Chicago elementary school teachers who use the program responded to a questionnaire regarding their opinions of DISTAR (72% response). The results indicated that teachers thought DISTAR was an effective program, especially with slow learners, and that they liked the format and structure of the program and the ease of teaching it. However, teachers thought that DISTAR was not effective with all children, that it was not effective in teaching reading comprehension, and that it did not foster pupil interest more than did other programs. The teachers rejected DISTAR as an exclusive reading program; the majority said they would prefer using another system either alone or in conjunction with DISTAR. (GW)